Princess Peach's Bizarre Adventure
by GigaBob
Summary: A routine kidnapping spirals way out of control as Princess Peach battles vampires and other threats across time and space! With both Mario and Luigi missing, she must use her own strength and wits to defeat new and powerful enemies and ensure the safety of the Mushroom Kingdom.
1. Phantom Blood, Part 1

It was an ordinary day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The clouds and hills were smiling, the various denizens were going about their daily business by collecting randomly floating coins, thus destabilizing the already-tenuous economy, and Princess Peach was in her castle and baking a cake, as is the wont of the idle nobility.

Peach started her mental timer as she put the cake in the oven. After a certain incident involving a Shy Guy gourmet, she'd gotten extremely good at counting to 30 seconds in her head, which was exactly how long it took to perfectly bake a cake. Most ovens took much longer, but Peach had access to both advanced technology and analyzed magic, both of which were combined by the Mushroom Kingdom's top techno-wizards to create the perfect cake-baking oven. It was pretty much useless for any other task, but Peach's subjects were all too happy to assist her in whatever task she desired.

Despite her frequent involuntary bouts of absence from the castle, Peach was in fact an effective ruler, as shown by her ability to keep the Mushroom Kingdom politically and economically stable despite the aforementioned randomly floating coins. She had been forced to take the throne after the Koopa Troop's first invasion had killed her mother and father, the previous King and Queen; she had chosen to retain the title of "Princess", despite technically being the highest authority in the kingdom, out of respect to her late parents.

Her ascension to the throne had come at the tender young age of 16. As she was the only child of the previous regents, she had been groomed to become the next Queen since childhood, and thus was not unused to the requisite court intrigue and political maneuvering both within the country and between the various other nations of the Mushroom World. But she was a diplomat at heart, able to gain the allegiance of former enemies and pacify feuding tribes, and her natural magical abilities let her directly help her subjects through her healing and curative arts. But her most valuable asset was not her own abilities, but those of her two most trusted allies - Mario and Luigi.

The two men had come from another world, one they called Earth, though further research suggested that they were originally born in the Mushroom Kingdom, and spirited away to Earth after the former leader of the Koopa Troop tried to kidnap them. Still, their arrival had come at a most fortunate time: Bowser, the self-appointed Demon King of the Koopas, had led a quick but brutal invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom, resulting in the death of its regent, the capture of Peach, and the transmogrification of most of its citizens into inanimate objects. The Koopas were initially interested in Peach's political power, but quickly realized that her magical talent, combined with their own dark wizardry, could create an army capable of conquering the entire world.

But from out of nowhere came two men, possessing nothing but their great leaping skills and making use of the many magical plants and fungi of the Mushroom Kingdom. Together, they had driven the Koopa armies back, assaulted their stronghold in the Dark Lands and rescued the captive Princess, all without demanding a single thing in return. And every time Peach had been captured or otherwise incapacitated, they had again and again come to her aid. Peach had bestowed great honours upon them, and they were two of the most famous individuals in the entire world - but not once had they demanded a fee for their services.

30 seconds had passed. Peach removed the cake from the oven, set it down on a plastic cake platter, and set to decorating it with white frosting and fresh strawberries. (In the aforementioned Gourmet Guy incident, she had accidentally used kitchen cleaner in lieu of frosting. That was a mistake she'd never make again.) Peach's obsession with cake was well-known among the inhabitants of the kingdom, to the point that it was rumoured that she did... rather unsavory things with cake, possibly with Mario and/or Luigi involved as well. But she had made it clear on numerous occasions that she had never been romantically involved with either of the brothers.

"Pardon me, Princess!" A castle guard, dressed in a white cloak and carrying a Gadd-designed vacuum-spear, rushed into the kitchen. "A thousand pardons, Princess, but scouts have reported an Airship armada headed toward Toad Town!"

Airships? Only one force in the entire Mushroom World could construct those. "The Koopas," Peach said. "How far away are they?"

"Approximately an hour, Your Highness," the guard said. "The Brothers have been alerted. It would be best if you went to the safe room."

After so many different attempts by Bowser to capture her, Peach had seen fit to construct a panic room in the lower levels of the palace. "I see," Peach said. "Take all necessary preventative measures."

"Of course, Your Highness." The guard rushed out of the kitchen and Peach followed, casting one last forlorn look at the delicious cake.

The safe room was protected by pretty much every countermeasure imaginable - reinforced steel walls with impact-absorbing gel between, magical and psychic wards, and more. It was also firmly anchored to the earth with Gadd-designed Immovable Rods, so it would remain in the earth even if the palace itself was taken. It also had a year's supply of food and water. Only three people in the entire world - Mario, Luigi and Peach herself - could open the door, and breaching it from the outside was nigh-impossible.

So of course, Bowser himself ripped the door right off the hinges barely half an hour after his fleet arrived.

"Bwa ha ha!" Bowser's laugh was admittedly a bit goofy, but it did nothing to alleviate the menace of a massive ox-turtle with potent physical and magical abilities holding an even larger metal door above him like a Mario Kart Grand Prix trophy. "You think something like this is gonna keep me out, Princess? You gotta do better than that to stop the King of the Koopas!"

"Protect the Princess!" The elite Mushroom Retainers immediately charged at Bowser. Their vacuum-spears were specifically designed as anti-Koopa weaponry - the spear tips were diamond-hard and impressively sharp, while the vacuum component would neutralize Bowser's famous breath. So of course, the spears bounced harmlessly off of Bowser's scaly hide, and the searing inferno of his flame breath immediately melted the vacuums. He brushed all seven Retainers away with a single sweep of his arm.

Peach was not defenseless. She had thrown down with the Koopa King before, and she'd even won once or twice. But something was... different about him this time. Though he had always been arrogant and pig-headed, he'd been mentally worn down over the years by his many defeats at the hands of the Mario Brothers. But this time, he practically radiated confidence. He seemed to be stronger than usual, too; his physical strength often varied, but he wasn't even winded by ripping off that door. His horns and teeth seemed to be longer than usual, his skin was slightly discoloured, and Peach could swear that his red eyes were glowing in the darkness.

"Oh?" Bowser said, noticing Peach's odd look. "You noticed, huh? Yeah, I bet you're thinking 'Wow, that studly final boss is somehow even greater than usual'! Well, I don't wanna spoil anything for ya, since you'll see soon enough, but I'm much stronger than before!"

As a demonstration of his new power, Bowser's ribs immediately pierced through his chest with a sickening squelch. Seemingly unconcerned with that little anatomical problem, Bowser proceeded to direct his ribs in a choreographed little sequence, moving them in time with the wiggling of his fingers.

Peach barely held back the contents of her stomach from violently exiting her mouth. "What...?" she sputtered out.

"Oh, this? It's a pretty cool trick, huh?" Bowser's ribs retracted back into his chest, and the wounds healed within seconds. "I can do other cool stuff, too. Here, watch this!" Bowser grabbed one of the unconscious Retainers in his left hand. His fingers slid underneath the Retainer's flesh, and he proceeded to drain... something from the Retainer's body, leaving him a withered, desiccated corpse.

"You monster!" Peach yelled. She let loose a torrent of magical kinetic force from her palms, enough to reduce the wall behind him to finely-ground rubble. Her offensive magic was limited, but she'd developed that spell specifically to topple Bowser over... and it had had absolutely no effect.

"I'm just no-selling everything today, huh?" Bowser said nonchalantly. "So, Princess, you've got two choices. You can come with me willingly, or I can take you by force. I'd prefer not to harm your delicate little body, but you know I don't mind being a bit rough."

Peach responded by creating a ball of dazzling white light in her hand. She threw it directly in Bowser's face while shielding her own eyes... and to her surprise, Bowser screamed in bloodcurdling agony and fell to the ground, clutching his lacerated face.

Huh? That was purely a diversion, meant to blind a potential attacker long enough for Peach to run for it. It shouldn't have done any actual physical damage. Still, she couldn't let an opportunity like that go to waste. Peach immediately booked it up the stairs, climbing over the fallen castle guards.

"AAARGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Bowser lashed out in blind rage, his horns and the spikes on the back of his shell shooting out and retracting randomly. Not wanting to witness any more of his new powers, Peach threw another dazzling ball into the basement, prompting another scream of inarticulate anguish. She climbed the stairs as quickly as she could in her fancy shoes and dress, and emerged on what could only be described as a war zone.

The upper floors of the palace were ruined, almost beyond repair. The few guards remaining were fighting a losing fight against Bowser's elite troops: Koopatrols decked out in black armor, Weapon Bros. wielding hammers, boomerangs and fire flowers, Lakitus throwing Spinies from above, Magikoopas throwing spells all around, and others. But like Bowser, they were somehow different. They seemed bestial, more feral than the elite trained soldiers Peach had seen before. And it seemed that like Bowser, they were somehow feeding on her troops, as their withered remains littered the ground floor.

Peach threw another large dazzling ball into the melee. She prepared herself for a deafening scream, but none came; once the light cleared, she saw that all of Bowser's forces had been reduced to ash.

"Princess!" one of the guards shouted. Only three guards remained, and they immediately gathered around Peach. They were all badly injured, but Peach's healing magic easily patched them up.

"It... it was horrible..." one of the guards said, visibly quivering. "They're... they're stronger than they usually are. And they..."

"They ate the other guards," the second guard said. "But not with their mouths. With their hands. They just... sucked the life right out of them."

"Bowser did something similar," Peach said. Over the years, she had been in some rough situations, but she'd learned how to remain calm and composed no matter what was happening internally. She likened it to flipping a mental switch: turn the bad thoughts off for a while, at least until she was reasonably sure she was out of life-threatening danger. "At the very least, they seem to be weak to bright light."

Peach and the three guards ran outside, into the courtyard and the midday sun. Dozens of Airships were circling around the castle like hungry Cheep-Cheeps, casting the entire castle grounds in shadow. That was no doubt intentional by the Koopa King – if he and his soldiers were harmed by magical light, they'd likely be harmed by sunlight as well.

"PEEEEEEACH!" Bowser screamed. He smashed through the castle's front door, angrier than ever. His wounds had again healed, but Peach wasted no time in throwing another dazzling ball in his direction. This time, he countered with a spell of his own, a ball of darkness that neutralized its counterpart on contact.

"Bowser, what's happened to you?" Peach said. "You're not well! Whatever you've done to yourself, your soldiers, you need to reverse it!"

"Reverse it? Are you kidding?" Bowser said. "Why would I want to reverse such a wonderful gift? I haven't even shown you my ultimate technique!"

Bowser pointed both of his arms forward, and another bone-crunching sound suggested to Peach that he had dislocated them from the elbow down. His right arm began to spin clockwise, while his left spun counter-clockwise, both at incredibly high speeds, generating a whirling vortex in the middle.

"I call this one the Koopa Sandstorm!" Bowser slightly bent his arms outward, firing the vortex as a deadly tornado right at Peach and the guards. She and two of the guards managed to roll out of the way in time, but the third guard was not so lucky; when the tornado receded, there was barely anything left of the poor man.

"Now, Princess!" Bowser said again. "Wanna come with me willingly, or do you want a taste of my Koopa Sandstorm? You're a pretty tough girl, so I know you'll survive it!"

Peach bowed her head. "Promise to leave the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom unharmed. Then I'll go with you."

"You got it!" Bowser said. "I couldn't care less about your dumb kingdom! All I want is you, an eternal bride to go with my soon-to-be eternal dominion over the entire world!"

Peach slowly walked over to the Koopa King, who was now engaging in a healthy bout of maniacal laughter. Bowser was just as likely to renege on a promise as he was to keep his word - but at this point, she could at least delay him from killing more of her people. Plus, she could learn just how he gained his new power, as well as how to properly defeat him.

"Yep, it's gonna be great! Just you and me, with nothing but tim-" Bowser's gloating was interrupted by a fireball to the face. He wasn't expecting the attack, and thus went flying head-over-tail across the ruined courtyard.

"Heya, Princess!" Mario shouted as he leapt clear over the palace's outer walls. His clothes bore the distinctive red-and-white colours of a Fire Flower (a side effect of using magical items in the first place; the Mushroom Kingdom's top techno-wizards had researched it, but had ended up dismissing it as 'weird magic shit'). A few surviving Koopa soldiers ran out of the ruined door, but Mario threw several fireballs at them, immolating all of them in a few seconds.

"Sorry we're late!" Luigi said, also bearing the colours of a Fire Flower. The two Mario Brothers stood together and created a giant fireball, which they threw at the Koopa King and knocked him back through a wall and back into the castle. "Maybe it's just me, but does Bowser look different than usual?"

"Yeah, he does," Mario said. "Are you alright, Princess?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Peach said. "But be careful! Bowser's done something to his body. He has strange new powers!"

As if on cue, Bowser jumped back through the wall, his arms dislocated and preparing another devastating tornado attack. Mario approached him head-on, throwing fireballs all the way, while Luigi snuck around back. Mario's patented jump let him dodge the Koopa Sandstorm with ease, at the same time letting him get close enough for another point-blank fireball to the face. Luigi followed up with a mega punch that popped Bowser into the air, and Peach took the opportunity to throw another dazzling ball at him, scorching his feet, legs and tail with bright light.

"Whoa!" Luigi said in surprise as he barely looked away from the flash in time. "I didn't know you could do that, Princess!"

"It's not supposed to be an offensive technique, but whatever Bowser did, he seems to be hurt by it!" Peach exposited.

"Hurt by light, huh? Think Bowser turned into a vampire?" Mario asked.

"Huh? Bro, vampires aren't real," Luigi said flatly. "Then again, I've seen stranger things in the Mushroom Kingdom…"

Bowser's body fell to the ground. Both the Brothers' fire and Peach's light had taken their toll on him, and while he was temporarily incapacitated, he was quickly regenerating from his injuries.

"Princess, we should leave him to the Brothers," one of the guards said.

"I dunno about that, paisano," Mario said. "We all know how tenacious Bowser is, and that light spell the Princess has seemed to hurt him the most."

"I agree," Peach said. She readied another dazzling ball, but with surprising agility, Bowser leapt from a prone position all the way up to one of the circling Airships. Peach and the Brothers threw fire and light at the retreating Koopa King, but the Airship's hull withstood their assault.

"Give me a lift, Bro!" Luigi said. He climbed up on Mario's head as they prepared to execute a Double Jump, hopefully giving him enough lift to reach the Airship above - but before they could lift off, the castle's outer gate burst open, and a horde of zombie Koopa Troops, supplemented by zombie Toads, shambled into the palace grounds. Peach prepared another dazzling ball, but she generated little more than a few sparks between her palms; her FP pool was entirely drained, and her collection of Syrups had likely been destroyed in the crossfire. Compounding their problems was the cannonball barrage raining down from above.

"This doesn't look good." Mario muttered. "Sorry Princess, but I gotta do something you're not gonna like..."

"I won't retreat!" Peach said. "If I have to give my life to save my kingdom, I'll gladly do it!"

"Trust me, I know. But sometimes you gotta run away to prepare to fight another day." With a deft sleight of hand, Mario grabbed a small blue Mini Mushroom from his pocket and shoved it into Peach's mouth, shrinking her down to the size of a doll.

Peach impotently squeaked at Mario, and though she was too small for him to make out the words, he read her intent just fine. He gently picked her up, and with a remorseful look on his face, he muttered "Good luck, Princess." He summoned all the strength he had and threw Peach clear over the palace walls, clear over Toad Town, clear over the countryside...


	2. Phantom Blood, Part 2

Peach woke in darkness, nestled between the covers of a soft, warm bed. Her momentary confusion was enough to flip that mental switch back on, and she was immediately assaulted by the horrific memories of what went on at the palace. She spent the next five minutes softly crying to herself, trying vainly to recompose herself but unable and unwilling to.

"Princess?" The light flicked on in the room. "Princess, are you awake?"

Peach dried her eyes, but she still couldn't regain her royal demeanor. "Yes," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Please come in."

The door to the bedroom opened, and a male Koopa stepped in. He was rather muscular for a Koopa, with a scarred blue shell and a shock of greying hair. He wore a pair of overalls that had been patched in nearly every place imaginable.

"Princess Peach, first, let me say, it's an honour to host you here," the elderly Koopa said. "Er, my name's Koojo. We're near Rose Town and the Forest Maze."

Rose Town? That was nearly five hundred kilometers away from the palace. Had Mario really thrown her that far? "Thank you, Mr. Koojo. May I ask how long I've been here?"

"I found you in the woods about a day ago," Koojo said. "You looked pretty beat up. Uh, sorry... but your dress was pretty much ripped to shreds."

Peach had the sudden realization that she was wearing only a cotton slip and her undergarments underneath the covers. She reflexively drew the sheets closer to herself, though she got the impression that the old Koopa was even more embarrassed than she was. "Please forgive my indecency."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm uh, not really interested in Mushroom women, so I uh, didn't do anything while you were asleep. Oh my god that sounds weird-"

"I trust that your conduct was impeccable," Peach said, a hint of a smile crossing her lips. "In any case... have you heard anything about the Mushroom Kingdom? It was, well, not in a very good position when I was forcibly ejected."

"Well, about that..." Koojo scratched his beak. "Oh, you must be hungry. I'll make you something to eat. There's some clothes in the chest of drawers, they're for Koopas, but hopefully there's something you can wear." Koojo bowed to Peach and hastily left the room.

As Peach dug through the chest of drawers, she considered her own situation. She'd been thrown hundreds of kilometers clear of the palace, but the Mini Mushroom would have protected her from the fall. Something else must have got to her to shred her clothing, and possibly drag her even further away, but she had no scrapes or bruises on her from any potential attackers. Mario was stronger than he looked, and the Mini Mushroom would have increased her flight distance, but... all the way to Rose Town? That was, at the very least, highly improbable.

The old Koopa Koojo seemed a bit shifty as well. Peach was good at picking up subtle cues in conversation, and Koojo's body language and hesitancy suggested that he was hiding something. Still, he'd recovered her from who-knows-where and given her a place to rest... but he could have any number of reasons for that.

Peach slipped on a stained wool smock. It was a bit short for her tastes, but it was fine for now. She stepped out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where Koojo was busy frying up some eggs and Mushrooms over a wood stove. His home was rustic, lacking many of the conveniences of an urban home, but Peach got the impression that he had intentionally eschewed those.

"I hope you like Shroom Omelettes, Princess," Koojo said.

"That sounds wonderful," Peach said, her stomach growling. "But Mr. Koojo, about the Mushroom Kingdom..."

Koojo hesitated for a moment, then said, "From what I've heard, Toad Town has been almost completely demolished. All of the settlements around the castle - Koopa Village, Shiver City, Dry Dry Outpost - have been taken as well. The Beanbean Kingdom and Sarasaland are defending their borders, but it's not looking good."

Peach stifled back a sob. "And what of Mario and Luigi?"

"I don't know." Koojo turned back to the skillet. "They say that the Koopa Troop only moves by night or under the shadows of their Airships. And that they're completely draining their victims of body fluids."

"Yes... I've witnessed that..." Peach said.

"...But I've also heard that they're weak to bright light, and that you employed such a spell to great effect against them, Princess." Koojo scraped his omelette onto a plate and handed it to Peach. "Would you like something to drink?"

Peach declined, and they ate in silence. The Shroom Omelette was excellent, just as good (if not better) than the same dish made by the palace chefs, but Peach had other things on her mind. "Mr. Koojo, do you know what a 'vampire' is?"

"Yeah," Koojo said in between bites of his own omelette. "They're walking corpses. They need to feast on the life-force of the living to remain 'alive', and they're said to have a number of strange powers."

"...How does one become a vampire?"

"There's a bunch of different ways. Sometimes you need to be bit by another vampire, or you need to drink their blood. Other times, you need to possess a special artifact. There's plenty of other ways, too." Koojo gave Peach a meaningful look. "But you're wondering how I know all of this. And the answer to that... is complicated."

"Do you know how to defeat a vampire?"

"I do." Koojo finished his omelette and put the plate in a water-filled basin. "They're weak to some types of light, but a strong vampire can resist it. Water blessed by a holy man sometimes works, as does a holy artifact."

"Holy artifact? Like the Star Rod, perhaps?" Peach asked.

"Well yeah, but I'm talking more about a symbol of faith, something like a cross or other religious item. Then again, that doesn't always work either, and strong enough vampires can melt those quick. Different types of vampires have different weaknesses, but there are a few common ones…" Koojo gave Peach another look, and Peach gazed into his eyes. They were old and weary, but intense in a way she couldn't quite describe. "Princess. I can teach you a way to defeat the undead. Are you willing to learn?"

"I am," Peach said, returning his steely gaze with one of her own. "I will do anything to protect my kingdom, even if it lies in cinders."

"Then follow me." Koojo led Peach out of the kitchen, and into the great outdoors. He lived in a simple two-room wooden cabin on the edge of the woods, likely the Forest Maze he'd mentioned. Peach had never been there herself, but Mario had, once on one of his many adventures. A seemingly-impenetrable wall of trees lied not a hundred meters from the cabin, over a babbling creek; to the south was a rolling valley full of even more trees, with the slightest hint of civilization just barely visible on the valley's other end.

Koojo walked over to a babbling creek lying between the cabin and the Forest Maze. Peach noticed that the ripples he made as he stepped into the creek were entirely unnatural, as if he was somehow controlling them.

"Princess, do you have any training in the martial arts?" Koojo asked.

"Er..." Peach did have some hands-on experience in Parasol and Frying Pan Fu, and she'd seen martial artists compete both in Toad Town and on the other side of the world, but she'd never really had to physically train herself. "Not really, I suppose."

"Good, that'll make it easier." Koojo took a deep breath, and something about the air around him seemed to change, as if he was surrounded by invisible electricity. "Vampires and other undead feed on the life-force of others, but they can't take in too much of it at once."

"Ah, like filling a balloon," Peach said. "If you give them too much, they explode. But it seems kind of dangerous."

"It is," Koojo said. He took another breath, and this time, the inferred invisible electricity briefly became visible. "But it works on nearly any type of undead, at least that I've seen. Where I'm from, we call it 'the Ripple'."

Peach again noticed the odd ripples coming from Koojo's feet. "This Ripple... it's the life-force vampires feed on?"

"The short answer is yes, but it's actually closer to the FP you use to cast magic. It's pretty complex, so I won't go into the details right now. The point is that you can create large amounts of Ripple in your body with certain breathing techniques, then deliver it to someone by physical contact."

"I wish to learn how to use the Ripple, then, if you would be willing to teach me," Peach said.

"Yeah, I'll teach you as much as I can." Koojo stepped out of the creek and took Peach's hand. "You've got decent potential for it. But we have a strict time limit. I would say we have about a week before the Mushroom Kingdom is too far gone."

Peach nodded. "I will do everything in my power to learn."

And so, by putting her mind to it and playing a lot of '80s music, Peach initiated her Ripple training montage over the next week. She'd never done anything so physically demanding before, so she started off having trouble with the special breathing and physical techniques required of her, but she slowly got the hang of it during the montage, and had pretty much mastered the basics by the end.

The basic use of the Ripple was defensive - simply having an abundance of Ripple in one's body gave them some protection against the undead. They might get bit or fed on once, but those same zombies wouldn't make the same mistake twice. The Ripple's other defensive uses allowed one to heal minor injuries and dull pain, both useful in the sort of situations that vampire hunters often found themselves in.

But the Ripple's offensive uses were more important. Striking someone with a Ripple-infused limb would deal extra damage against the undead, but it could also be focused and channeled into techniques called "Overdrives" with various and unique effects. Peach had limited time to practice the offensive uses of the Ripple, but as Koojo pointed out, she could use Ripple arts in conjunction with her own healing magic to amplify the effects of both.

"And what about you, Mr. Koojo?" Peach asked. They were sitting by a fire under the moonlight, resting from the last day of hard training. "I doubt anyone else in the Mushroom World knows this much about the Ripple arts. Where did you learn them?"

"I received some instruction in my youth, but I developed most of the techniques on my own through rigorous practice," Koojo said. "But then you'll ask how I practiced them when there's no vampires on the Mushroom World. Well..."

"...you're not from the Mushroom World," Peach said. "Interdimensional travelers are rare, but not unknown to us."

"Indeed." Koojo stared thoughtfully at the moon. "My home world was taken over by vampires during my youth. I narrowly escaped death or a fate worse than death by jumping into another world. I honed my vampire-hunting skills throughout my adulthood, but by the time I made it back to my home... it was too far gone. The vampires had reduced the world to ashes, and the few survivors were mindless savages. So I dedicated myself to stamping out vampires in other worlds. I learned of the Ripple in one world, but I can't use it very effectively in this body."

"This body?" Peach asked.

"Of course. Do you think I was always a Koopa?" Koojo chuckled. "Interdimensional travel can have some odd effects on the body. In my case, I usually take the form of a creature native to that world. In my home world, I looked something like those Yoshi critters down south, but here, I'm a Koopa."

"Hmm... vampire Yoshis. I can't imagine that."

"They were actually quite terrifying. Imagine the endless belly of a Yoshi with the endless thirst of a vampire." Koojo shuddered at the thought. "In hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised that they tore themselves apart in the span of a generation."

"So why are you here if no vampires exist here?" Peach asked.

"It's my retirement home, I guess. I'm quite old by my species' standards, and I can't fight quite as good as I used to. And since I can't go back home, I decided that the next world I went to would be home for the rest of my days. And despite some of the oddities, and especially in light of everything that I know now, I'm glad I ended up here."

"...Thank you, Koojo. For everything." Peach took Koojo's hand, and for a moment, she felt the burden on the old man's heart, the years and years of fighting monsters, the physical and emotional scars, and the fear that maybe, somewhere down the line, he'd turned into one of the monsters he hated so much... "No. You're not like that."

"I've done some terrible things, Peach. Things I regret. Things that keep me up at night." Koojo shook his head. "And after it all, I've barely done anything in the grand scheme of things. Vampires are one of those things that I don't think can ever truly be wiped out. And I wasted my entire life fighting them."

"No. You've saved lives," Peach said flatly. "You protected people who otherwise would have died. And no matter what else you've done, you gave people hope."

He tried to hold it back, but Koojo was visibly crying. "...Thank you, Peach."

The two tucked in for the night. Tomorrow, they would go to war.


	3. Phantom Blood, Part 3

Two figures, both dressed in white mantles, approached the border between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Chai Kingdom. The region was mountainous, filled with monsters and nearly impassable by foot; a well-worn path nestled between hills was the only road available, and it was heavily patrolled and guarded even in times of peace. The constant attacks by the Koopa Troop had taxed the border patrol to their limits, and even the Sarasaland Royal Army's reinforcements were only doing so much to ease the stress.

"Halt!" one of the border patrols said to the two figures. "It's dangerous past here! Turn back now, for your own safety!"

The taller robed figure removed her hood, revealing blonde locks and a stern look on a porcelain face. "I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom," she announced in the practiced tone of an authority figure. "I am returning to my homeland to destroy those who have invaded it. Deny me this, and I will consider it an act of war."

"Are you crazy, woman!?" the guard said. "Yeah, you do look like Princess Peach, but no sane royal would go back to that hellhole!"

This remark only earned a brisk slap from Peach's gloved hand. The other guards wisely stepped aside as the Princess and her partner, the not-really-a-Koopa warrior Koojo, continued on. But as they passed through the gate signifying the end of one kingdom and the beginning of another...

"Airships!" one of the guards shouted. "Two Airships, headed this way!"

This provoked a flurry of activity from the guards, but the two Ripple warriors continued on. Sure enough, two wooden Airships appeared on the horizon, each carrying a cadre of zombified Koopa Troop soldiers. As the two ships neared the gate, they slowed and gradually descended, and the soldiers on board safely touched the ground, safe from the early morning sun underneath the Airship's shadow.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to test my new skills," Peach said to Koojo. "Please stay here unless you think I need help."

"Of course," Koojo said, his face still hidden underneath his robe. "Good luck."

Peach threw off her robe. They'd purchased a number of supplies from Rose Town before departing, including the pink martial-arts gi she currently wore and a small leather pouch with deceptive capacity. With a single fluid motion, she leapt right into the fray, took a deep breath, and unleashed one of her special techniques.

"Mist White Overdrive!" Peach shouted. Calling the name of the attack was both a mnemonic for remembering how to perform the attack, as well as a method to instill fear into opponents. There were occasions where telegraphing your attack patterns was detrimental... but this wasn't one of them. Peach pointed her palms outward, and released from them a wave of magical white mist that quickly spread over the thirty-odd zombie Koopas around her, reducing every last one to dust in less than a couple of seconds.

"...By the Star Road," one of the border guards muttered. The rest of the patrol was similarly stunned, but had little time to ponder such things, as both Airships continued their cannon barrages. The border patrol were equipped with anti-Airship weapons, namely magic staves that fired globs of burning napalm, but they lacked the training to use them effectively - most of the shots went wild, and those that did hit bounced off of the hulls, dealing minimal damage or none at all.

Fortunately, Peach had prepared for this. With another surge of Ripple channeled into her legs, she leapt directly upwards, clearing the tops of the Airships by a good fifty meters. Though not as accomplished as the Mario Brothers, Peach's jumping skills were nothing to sneeze at - and with the physical and Ripple training she'd undergone in the past week, she was confident she could now out-jump Mario at the very least. Assuming he was still alive...

Peach's thoughts of the Brothers broke her concentration just for a moment, but it was enough for an undead Magikoopa to blast her with magic. She narrowly avoided the Airship's propellers, but fell hard on its deck. She felt something pop in her shoulder, but she instinctively channeled Ripple into the source of the pain, dulling the sensation for now. She'd be able to heal it shortly.

The Magikoopa giggled madly from his perch, shielded from the sun by a massive Bullet Bill cannon. He raised his wand and prepared another magical bolt, but Peach dodge-rolled out of the way and launched a thin beam of golden-white light at him. The Magikoopa shrieked in pain as his arm fell to the ground, cleanly severed by Peach's spell.

Peach got to her feet and pressed her left hand to her right shoulder. It felt like she'd dislocated it or something on the impact, but a weak Therapy spell was enough to put it back into place. She'd temporarily lost her mental focus after being blind-sided by the Magikoopa, but she took a moment to recompose herself by taking a deep breath, filling her body with more Ripple energy.

The Magikoopa shrieked as he grabbed the wand from his severed arm, but he had no chance to prepare a counter-spell, as he was crushed underfoot by the captain of the Airship - Morton Koopa Jr., one of Bowser's Koopaling children (though Peach had later learned they were adopted from an unknown source).

Peach had spoken at length with most of the Koopalings, both during her various terms of imprisonment as well as the various civil sporting and karting events they'd held together. But of the seven Koopalings, Peach knew the least about Morton - not because he spoke the least (indeed, he was a bit of a loudmouth), but because he seemed to have little to no personality to speak of. He was an arrogant thug, but lacked the brute strength of Roy, the intelligence of the twins, the cunning of Ludwig and Wendy, and the manic energy of Lemmy; indeed, he was looked down upon by the rest of his siblings and forced to do menial jobs, like cleaning the halls or keeping watch over the Princess.

And based on the discolouration of his skin and the two prominent teeth poking out of his mouth, it seemed that he had been turned into one of the undead as well. Koojo had mentioned that vampires and zombies possessed similar abilities, but the main difference was that vampires retained their free will, while zombies were unfailingly loyal to the vampire that turned them. Vampires tended to be stronger than their zombie minions as well, and could regenerate from otherwise fatal wounds; but even with all their power, they possessed the same weaknesses to sunlight and the Ripple.

"Heya, Princess Peach!" Morton said. "Good to see ya! My dad's quite interested in finding ya, so I figured I'd lead a couple Airships to see if I could find ya first. And if I caused some general mayhem in the meantime, hey, it's win-win!" Morton grabbed the magic scepter from his Magikoopa minion's still-twitching arm. "So ya can come easy, or I can rough ya up a little bit first! In fact, I wouldn't mind tasting yer royal blood fer meself..."

"You're disgusting!" Peach spat. "But I'll make you a counter-offer. You've seen what I did to your soldiers, and I'm more than capable of doing the same to you. So why don't you drop the tough-guy act and lead me to your father, and I promise I won't harm you."

"Oh, you think yer tough, huh?" Morton laughed. "But you haven't seen what a real vampire can do. So why don't I show ya!"

Morton thrust his left arm forward, and fired what appeared to be thin fleshy tubes from his fingers right at Peach. But she was prepared for such an attack, and with a sharp kiai, she held her palm out and channeled Ripple through it, disintegrating the tubes on impact.

"OW!" Morton stepped back, and Peach took her chance. She jumped the length of the deck, landed right on top of the stunned Morton, and delivered a swift karate chop to Morton's left shoulder, severing his arm from the shoulder down. She kicked off of his face, did a triple backflip in the air, and landed on her feet; and with another kiai, she prepared another one of her special Ripple techniques.

The most basic anti-vampire technique among the Ripple arts was called the "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive". It worked by converting an arbitrary amount of Ripple into ultraviolet light, then delivering it along with larger amounts of ordinary Ripple directly into a vampire's body, hitting both of their weak points for massive damage. Normally, it required physical contact of some kind, but in Peach's case, she had come up with a variation: she could use her healing magic, itself effective against the undead, to create a conduit between her and her enemy, then deliver an Overdrive through it. She called it...

"Life Surge Overdrive!" Peach fired a beam of intense white light right into Morton's chest, burning him almost immediately on contact. Before he could come up with any sort of defense, Peach channeled UV light and Ripple into her arms, causing showers of gold sparks and gouts of white mist to explode outward from the beam. The combined attack tore into Morton's body, its sheer power forcing him back into the sunlight, which was more than enough to finish him off for good.

Peach wiped the sweat from her brow. She'd used quite a bit of her FP and Ripple with that attack, and the physical fatigue of the fight quickly caught up with her. Using that attack was probably overkill on Morton, but it was more a proof of concept than anything; she knew that if it was that effective against a weaker vampire, it would certainly do serious damage against Bowser.

Peach ran into the Airship's cabin and took the wheel. She pushed one of the buttons on a console near the wheel, lowering the ship's anchor; a few moments later, Koojo appeared in the cabin, still wearing his robe.

"Can you pilot one of these things?" Koojo asked, looking at the various buttons and levers contained within.

"I've never actually done it, but I've seen the Koopalings steer them enough times to be reasonably sure," Peach said. "And I know that Toad Town is due northeast of here. We should be able to make it there fairly quickly in one of these."

"Sounds good, Princess, but what about the other one?"

Koojo's question was punctuated with loud explosions and the splintering of wood. Peach ran out of the cabin to see the other Airship firing a salvo of cannonballs and Bullet Bills into their own Airship's hull. The Airship was already losing altitude, and fast.

"Looks like we're gonna have to jump!" Koojo shouted from inside the cabin. "Clearing the gap between us and the other one should be pretty easy, though."

"I don't know if I can do it!" Peach shouted back. "I went a bit overboard against Morton. I could probably make the jump, but I don't know about fighting off the undead..."

"No problem!" Koojo ran onto the Airship's deck, narrowly dodging a stray Bullet Bill, and grabbed Peach by the waist and knees. She felt Ripple surging through his body as he ran toward the edge of the Airship's deck and leapt clear over to the other Airship, even propelling himself right at the other Airship's deck by jumping off another stray Bill. The zombies were clearly not expecting that, especially considering that they smashed through the opposing Airship's ceiling, creating a big ol' patch of sunlight that fried a couple of zombie Hammer Bros.

Peach got back onto her feet and assumed a defensive position, standing back-to-back with Koojo, who was doing something similar. They were standing in the newly-made skylight, preventing a direct assault from the zombie hordes, but they still had plenty of ranged weapons - hammers, magic, cannons and Bullet Bills came from every direction, but Peach and Koojo dodged or destroyed every last shot.

"You gotta do better than that, fools!" Koojo grabbed a Bullet Bill, charged it with Ripple, then threw it back at the zombies. It exploded on impact with the deck, killing a half-dozen zombies instantly and injuring about a dozen more. Koojo ducked into his shell and flew into the fray, using what he called his "Ripple Shell" attack to pinball between hapless undead mooks.

Peach took a second to recompose herself, and jumped into the battle as well. She was still fatigued from the fight with Morton, but she'd had a chance to restore her Ripple reserves in the other Airship's cabin. Still, she realized that it'd be best to conserve her strength just in case, so she ignored the temptation to use any more flashy Overdrives, and instead delivered a good-old-fashioned Ripple-enhanced zombie-punching beatdown.

Between the two of them, they managed to clear out the Airship's crew, about fifty more zombie Koopas of various professions, in less than three minutes.

"It's been a while since I had this much fun," Koojo said as he jumped up and delivered a massive kick to a zombie Lakitu, cleanly cutting it in half. "How are you doing, Princess?"

"I'm fine," Peach said. "I'm feeling a bit light-headed, though."

"Yeah, that happens. But don't worry, you'll feel much better once you've had a chance to relax."

The ear-splitting sound of wood and metal shattering signified that the other Airship had finally hit the ground; fortunately, it had crashed a fair distance away from the Mushroom-Chai checkpoint, and the guard had the foresight to shield themselves from the innumerable splinters that rained down from the impact. These same splinters clattered against the Airship's hull, but a quick visible inspection confirmed that, though there were a few chunks of metal embedded in their captured ship, nothing critical was damaged. Peach and Koojo went into the cabin, set a course for Toad Town, and flew into the horizon.


	4. Phantom Blood, Part 4

It was about 5 PM when Peach and Koojo, riding an Airship captured from the Koopa Troop's forces, arrived at the outskirts of Toad Town. The entire town was either reduced to rubble, on fire, or reduced to fiery rubble; even the formerly majestic Mushroom Castle had been torn apart, with only its foundations remaining. Peach wiped away tears from her eyes, and focused on her Ripple breathing as a way to distract herself from the pain.

"Are you all right, Princess?" Koojo asked. He had finally ditched his white robe; underneath, he wore a form-fitting black shirt that exposed his midriff, black pants and a red-and-white triangle-pattern headband. (He claimed that the headband was a keepsake from his old master, though he'd had to modify it in order to fit around his current body's head.)

Peach remained silent. Grief and anger swelled in her throat, but she continued focusing on her breathing, pushing those feelings away. There would be time to grieve and rebuild in the future - for now, she needed to focus on the task at hand, namely killing Bowser, his Koopalings, and every vampire and zombie in his army.

Bowser's forces appeared to have withdrawn from Toad Town, as there were no other Airships in the sky, nor were there any soldiers on the ground. Peach and Koojo descended about a hundred meters to get a better look at the town, but all they saw was the extent of the town's devastation: plants and trees had been ripped up and torn apart, water fountains were destroyed and polluted, all of the ships in the harbor were sunk and the docks destroyed, and most importantly, there were no citizens or corpses present. It was possible that there were still survivors somewhere underneath the rubble, but...

"...searching for them would take too much time," Peach muttered aloud. "There's nothing left here. Bowser's forces have probably returned to his castle."

"Yeah," Koojo said. "But approaching it by air seems like a bad idea."

"We'll take the Airship to the borders of the Dark Land, then we'll abandon it and go the rest of the way by foot," Peach said, having formulated this plan in less than a few seconds. "Koojo, I thank you for your assistance up to this point, but I do not expect you to fight for a kingdom you have no stake in."

"Don't give me that, Princess," Koojo said. "Vampire hunting not's the sort of profession you get into if you're not willing to lay down your life for a cause. And to be honest, I'd rather go down fighting than wasting away in a shack in the middle of nowhere."

"...Thank you," Peach said. "If we survive this, I will bestow upon you the highest honours the Mushroom Kingdom has to offer."

Koojo chuckled. "We'll be fine, Princess."

The Airship ascended and continued northwest, towards the Dark Lands and the Castle contained within.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Peach said. They were flying over the Mushroom Kingdom countryside, but even the many small hamlets bore the telltale signs of the Koopa Troop's destructive march. The sun was setting, but as Peach had explained to Koojo, the area around Bowser's Castle was shrouded in perpetual night even before he had become a vampire, so the time of their attack didn't really matter.

"Of course," Koojo said. He was sitting against the wall of the Airship's cabin, looking somewhat pained. Peach had fully recovered from the fight earlier in the day, but she was still in the prime of her life; Koojo, on the other hand, was both old and fighting in an unfamiliar body, and thus was still winded. He'd assured her that he would be fine, but Peach was unsure about that, as well as many other things about him.

"...I traveled from the Mushroom Kingdom to the edge of the Forest Maze in a single throw, or so I thought. There were extenuating circumstances, but traveling 500 kilometers in a single throw is highly unlikely."

Koojo nodded.

"And despite the fact that you live on the edge of the Forest Maze, largely isolated from civilization, you knew exactly what Bowser's forces were up to. There's also the fact that a Ripple master just happened to show up when vampires, otherwise unknown in the Mushroom World, appeared..."

Koojo chuckled. "I'm sorry, Princess. I don't want to insult your intelligence, but I was kind of hoping you wouldn't put the pieces together."

"You had your own reasons for hiding the truth from me," Peach said, "but I would prefer if you were honest with me, if you're able."

"Okay, I'll come clean." Koojo got up and looked Peach right in the eyes. "Princess, do you believe that the future can be foretold?"

"I believe that prophecy is a useful tool, but that it is not foolproof," Peach said. "I once met a man who dedicated his life to a book that supposedly told the future. The book ensured that he would succeed, but despite this, he was betrayed by one of his own and defeated." She neglected to mention the circumstances that had driven that man to such measures, but that was largely irrelevant to the discussion. "So you were told that these events would occur?"

"Indeed," he said. "I was given quite a bit of detail about what would happen, actually. I was told I would end up in this world in this body, that I would find you on the outskirts of Sarasaland, and that I had seven days to train you before the entire world was overrun."

"How far does the prediction go?" Peach asked.

"We'll arrive in the Dark Lands and successfully fight our way to Bowser, but..." Koojo trailed off.

"We die against him," Peach said. "Do we at least finish him off?"

"I don't know," he said. "But like you said, prophecy isn't foolproof. We'll find a way to succeed despite that."

Peach looked wistfully at the setting sun. "I hope so."

THUMP.

Peach shuddered involuntarily. "What was that?"

"A vampire's somewhere in the cargo hold," Koojo said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Let's take care of it."

The two climbed down into the empty cargo hold, preparing themselves for another fight. Naturally, it was completely dark within, but Peach had that covered. She created a dazzling ball on her palm and swept it across the hold, making sure to illuminate every corner... but the vampire was nowhere to be found.

"They're good at blending in," Koojo said. "Keep your guard up."

But Peach wasn't about to be caught unaware. She pumped a bit of Ripple into the ball of light and destabilized it, flooding the hold with a single bright flash. Sure enough, the hidden vampire screeched in pain, but Peach only got a glimpse of the vampire before the light faded, returning the hold to darkness.

Peach considered creating another dazzling ball, but she realized that it would only make her a target - and despite her use of the Ripple, she was still rather fragile, and vampires had more than enough strength to tear her limb from limb. Instead, she steadied her breathing and listened, hearing the vampire's muted footsteps scampering madly around the cargo hold. It was approaching them from the right, but its steps were muted, somehow distant. Peach thought back, remembering the various vampiric abilities Koojo had told her about, including...

"There!" Peach threw a ball of magical white mist directly above her, eliciting another screech of pain. Vampires could walk on walls and ceiling with some effort; no doubt it was trying to get the drop on them. The vampire fell to the ground, and in the light of another dazzling ball, Peach finally saw its face.

His clothes were torn, his skin was discoloured and covered in cuts, and he lacked his trademark cap... but there was no mistaking it.

"Luigi?" Peach said. "Luigi, is that you?"

The vampire screamed again and launched himself at Peach, but Koojo stepped in and delivered a palm strike to Luigi's bulbous nose. But this time, rather than retreating and making another sneak attack, Luigi jumped directly upward, puncturing a hole in the cargo hold that filled it with the last rays of the dying sun.

"Luigi!" Peach jumped through the hole, expecting to see nothing but a pile of ash under crumpled clothing... but Luigi was still corporeal, though his skin was visibly burning in sunlight and his body was bent at an odd angle.

"Princess." The air seemed to shimmer around Luigi as he continued to bend his body in seemingly impossible ways. "At the end, when I was surrounded by the undead, you know what my final thoughts were? I wondered why we spent all that time rescuing you. And even now, after Bowser turned me into one of his undead puppets, I've had more time to ponder that question..." He grinned madly. "And you know what? I couldn't come up with an answer."

"I am sorry, Luigi," Peach said, returning to her formal tone of voice. "If I had been stronger, I could have prevented all of this... I failed you, and Mario, and everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Yeah you did!" Luigi stomped his foot on the deck, creating an odd zone of energy around himself. It seemed to block sunlight at the very least, as his skin stopped burning and started to heal... but Peach had the sneaking suspicion that that was the least of the spell's effects. "But honestly, I don't mind this vampirism thing. I've finally gained the power that I've craved - that I deserved - for the longest time. And this is just the beginning!"

Luigi's energy field continued to expand, quickly engulfing the rest of the Airship. "This is my Negative Zone! Within it, my power is absolute! Even those light spells of yours won't affect me here!"

Peach had long been aware of Luigi's potential power. On several occasions, he'd demonstrated strange and even terrifying abilities, unlike anything his brother Mario possessed. But because of laziness, or self-loathing, or some other reason, he'd held himself back... but whatever part of him responsible for that had died along with his life, leaving only this undead shell that only looked like her former ally.

When undergoing her Ripple training, Peach had inquired at length about a potential cure to vampirism. And Koojo had shot her down every time. He had seen many different types of vampires throughout the years, but only a couple of them could be truly cured of their condition... and based on the abilities of these particular vampires, they were one of the ones that couldn't. Koojo drilled it into her that the vampires she would fight were not friends that had turned into monsters, but monsters that inhabited the bodies of friends.

Peach readied herself for an attack, but she found that she had difficulty moving within Luigi's Negative Zone. Luigi himself seemed unrestricted, and he used his enhanced agility to quickly close the gap between them. He plunged his ungloved right hand into Peach's shoulder before she could react, but he withdrew his fingers just as quickly, his hand burning from the abundance of Ripple in her body. Peach took her chance and thrust her palm forward, preparing a Sunlight Yellow Overdrive, but the collected Ripple in her hand fizzled out in the atmosphere of the Negative Zone, and Luigi dodged the attack easily anyways.

"What did you do?" Luigi asked, his hand still burning. "I was looking forward to making you my servant. But no, you just had to booby-trap your body with some sort of poison! That can't be healthy for you!"

"It's called the Ripple, and it's plenty healthy for the living," Peach spat. Her Ripple was less effective in this spell, but her healing magic still worked, as proven when she quickly patched up the puncture wounds in her shoulder. "Luigi... I have no desire to kill you. Leave now and go in peace, and I promise that neither I nor anyone in the Mushroom Kingdom will hunt you down."

"Oh, that's rich. Even with that poison in your blood, you're still practically defenseless, and you still have the gall to threaten me? You're in over your head, babe, even you've gotta realize that."

"Please don't call me 'babe'." Peach conjured a dazzling ball and chucked it, but the Negative Zone caused it to quickly fizzle out. Luigi giggled again and ran right at Peach, his vampiric fangs bared and his hands outstretched. Despite the increased air resistance (or whatever was slowing her down), Peach easily rolled under Luigi and kicked him solidly in the stomach, nearly throwing him off the side of the deck. Luigi rolled with the impact and saved himself from falling over, but as he got back to his feet, he realized that his intestines were hanging out of a hole in his stomach.

"I've been training to fight vampires for the past week," Peach said. "It turns out that my white magic is quite effective against the undead, especially when supplemented and amplified by the Ripple. And I've also learned to use my spells in unconventional ways, such as channeling a Therapy spell into my feet."

Luigi screamed in inarticulate rage and again ran at Peach, but she nimbly sidestepped him, grabbed his face from behind, and pumped another Ripple-enhanced healing spell right into his eyes. Luigi's head burst into flame, and this was evidently enough to break his concentration and destabilize the Negative Zone around them. But even this wouldn't quite be enough to finish off a vampire, especially now that the sun had completely set. So Peach grabbed his hanging intestines, channeled quite a bit of Ripple into him, then threw him overboard. She watched his entire body burst into flame as it hit the countryside below, quickly disappearing as Luigi's vampire body disintegrated.

Peach stood silently, staring at the barely-visible blackened spot of earth below her. Then, unable to hold it in anymore, she collapsed to her knees and cried.

"I'm sorry."


	5. Phantom Blood, Part 5

"I'm sorry, Princess."

Koojo and Peach sat in the cabin of their stolen Airship. They were rapidly approaching the Dark Lands, so named as it was the home of Bowser and the Koopa Troop. The ground below them was reddish-brown and parched, only broken up by the occasional oasis of muddy red water and sparse vegetation. The Dark World itself was surrounded on all sides by steep mountains, making it only assailable by air or underground, though the Mario Brothers were skilled enough to ascend the mountains with their jumping skills alone.

"No, it's okay... I knew what I was getting in to when I trained under you." Peach's eyes were red and puffy, and the sleeves of her gi were stained with tears, snot and blood. They'd been attacked by Luigi, who'd been turned into a vampire by the Koopa Troop - indeed, most of Bowser's forces, including the Demon King himself, had been turned into undead by some means. She'd managed to defeat Luigi by using her own healing arts and the Ripple, a type of energy quite effective against the undead, but the fact that she'd personally killed a hero and a man that'd rescued her multiple times had been too much for her. Even now, she'd just barely gotten herself back under control.

"...I tried to turn you into a soldier for my own crusade," Koojo said. "It was wrong of me. I knew you were unused to fighting, but I insisted on training you... the blame is on my shoulders."

"No." Peach got up, her despair dissipating and replaced by anger. "For all of my life, I've been treated like a delicate china doll, something to look at but not to touch. They seem to forget the fact that I've kept the Mushroom Kingdom together despite the multiple wars that threatened not just my kingdom, not just the world, but the entire universe itself. I've fought beings stronger than Bowser and came out on top. But they - everyone - continues to treat me like an object, a thing to take and be taken. And I've had enough."

"Princess-"

"I realize that no matter how much I train, I'll never be the physically strongest person in the kingdom. I realize that my role is to mediate and govern, not to fight. And perhaps part of me likes filling the damsel in distress role. Maybe we - Bowser, Mario and Luigi, me, everyone - are all just playing some sick and twisted game. But you know what? Here, now, I have the necessary abilities to defeat Bowser and save the world. And maybe I will die doing it, but you know what? It's my own choice to fight and die for the good of the kingdom. And I won't let you, or Bowser, or Mario, or anyone else take the blame for that. I am the one who made the choices that led me here. And I'll continue making those choices, no matter how hard they are, until the Mushroom Kingdom is safe again."

Koojo, evidently stunned by the outburst, said nothing. But Peach herself, realizing what she just said, quickly regained her composure. "I am sorry, Koojo. That was... I shouldn't have vented like that."

"No, it's fine." Koojo smiled slightly. "I get the impression that you've been holding that back for a long time."

"Yeah. It feels, uh, kind of refreshing to get that off of my chest."

"I can imagine." Koojo looked out at the mountains surrounding the Dark World, their silhouettes just barely visible in the light of the waning moon. "We're getting close. I imagine there'll be plenty of Airships circling around those mountains."

Peach nodded. "But this is a Koopa Troop Airship. As long as you're the one piloting it and they don't see me, we should be able to pass unharmed."

"Hope for the best but expect the worst, as I always say. Make sure you're ready to jump if necessary."

Koojo took the reins as Peach went to hide in the cargo hold. Time passed as she waited in the darkness, alone with her thoughts...

So much had happened in the past seven days. And even if she was successful in defeating the Koopa Troop for good, nothing would ever be the same. Toad Town was completely gone, and most of the cities around the Mushroom Kingdom had likely been attacked if not outright wiped out by the zombie hordes. Peach might well be fighting for a dead kingdom... but even if the people of her kingdom had been killed to the last child, it was still up to her, as the reigning regent, to make sure that they at least rested in peace.

After a seeming eternity, Peach heard Koojo whisper from the top of the hold. "We're close to Bowser's Castle."

Peach climbed back onto the deck of the Airship. The air near Bowser's Castle was thick and smelled of sulfur and ash, no doubt due to the lava moat surrounding the castle's massive outer walls. It was a smell that Peach had grown to tolerate in her many forced visits to this blighted place.

"There's an Airship landing pad on the south wing of the castle," Peach said, pointing to a flat section below them. "Once we land, follow my lead. I know my way around."

"I suppose so," Koojo said, grinning. "Very well then, Princess. But you do realize that just killing Bowser won't stop the rest of the Koopa Troop, right?"

"I know, but it's a start. His strength and authority is pretty much the only thing keeping the Koopa Troop together. With him gone, the Koopalings will devolve into infighting and wipe each other out."

Koojo handed the Airship's reins back to Peach, who put the anchor down and gently landed the Airship on the Castle's landing pad. She would normally have berated Bowser's arrogance for thinking that his precious Airships couldn't be hijacked, but Peach had the nagging feeling that this was way too easy. Bowser was smarter than he appeared, plus he likely didn't want her to come to any permanent harm... though if Bowser's plan was turning her into his eternal vampire consort, he could afford to 'rough her up', as he had put it.

They landed the Airship without incident. There were zombified Koopatrols assisting them with the landing, which made Peach slightly nervous - but even though they got a good look at her, they did nothing but let her pass into one of the castle's many statue-decorated lava-filled corridors.

Bowser's Castle had once been described to her as 'a creature of chaos', and though she doubted it was alive in any way, it was known to frequently change based on the whim of its ruler. Still, Bowser did have certain motifs in the design of his castle, and Peach's frequent relocations (and slightly less frequent escape attempts) had let her build sort of a mental map of the place.

Again, like the zombified flight operators, the frequent guards patrolling the castle simply let them pass without word. Even Koojo didn't draw any unwanted attention; they might as well have been invisible.

"Definitely a trap," Peach said.

"Definitely," Koojo agreed.

Without much trouble, they found a corridor flanked by even larger statues and even deeper lava moats, signifying the path to the throne. As traditional, a wooden bridge suspended over lava led to a massive red door flanked with spikes - but Bowser had since learned not to fight on such a dangerous precipice. Instead, the gate opened as they approached, leading into a throne room nearly as big as the former Mushroom Castle.

Enormous stone reliefs of Bowser lined the right and left walls, interspersed with flowing lavafalls that cast the room in a demonic red light. A literal red carpet led to a tiered landing at the very back.

"So you've come, Princess!" Bowser's deafening voice echoed clearly throughout the throne room. Peach and Koojo saw the Demon King himself, in all his vampiric glory, sitting on a throne nearly as large as the various Bowser reliefs on the wall. To his right was a smaller and less impressive throne, upon which sat Bowser Jr. - Bowser's only biological son and heir to the throne. (Peach had no idea who the mother was.) She also noticed an odd statue to his left - a kneeling human man, with flowing hair and three small horns on his forehead, wrapped in black wings.

"Yes, I've come," Peach said. "But do not mistake it for submission. I have come here to eliminate you, your spawn, your troops, and every last vampire and zombie in the Mushroom World."

"Aw, come on, Mama!" Bowser Jr. said. "Being a vampire is really fun! You'll love it!"

Koojo spat on the floor. "We'll never submit to you."

Bowser laughed. "Your last subject is a single old Koopa, huh? I guess I killed the rest of your kingdom. Oh, some of them are in my army, so I guess they're not totally gone - in fact, I've given them the gift of eternal life. You should be thanking me!"

"Papa, I can smell Mama's blood from here! It smells so good! Can I have a small taste, pleeeeease?"

Bowser affectionately patted his son's head. "Okay, son, but only a little bit. You've gotta leave some for me, after all!"

Bowser Jr. gleefully leapt from his throne and ran toward Peach and Koojo. Peach considered attacking Bowser Jr. before he got the chance, but she decided to let him have his taste - it would dissuade Bowser from pulling the same stunt.

"Gonna lick you up, Mama!" Bowser Jr. squealed as he plunged his fingers into Peach's stomach. But as expected, he just as quickly removed them while screaming in pain, her blood burning his fingers just on contact. Peach quickly healed the wounds in her stomach.

"Oh?" Bowser looked on with surprise. "Ah! That's the Ripple I've been hearing about. Sorry Junior, I just wanted to test a theory."

"How could you know of the Ripple?" Koojo said. "We've eliminated all of the troops you sent against us."

"Oh, but I have my sources." Bowser got up from his throne, his steps shaking the halls as he walked toward them. "In fact, I bet you're wondering just how I picked up my cool new powers."'

"The Stone Mask," Koojo said. "I've seen vampires of your breed before, and they were all created by an artifact by that name."

"You're smarter than you look, Koopa," Bowser said. Sure enough, in his left hand he held a mask made of gray stone, bearing a human face on it - but the face had two large fangs protruding from its mouth. "Spill blood on it and it punctures the brain in multiple spots, awakening dormant powers but turning the user into a vampire. Course, for a king that lives in a kingdom of eternal darkness, that's not much of a downside."

"Where did you find it?" Peach asked.

"I made it! Course, I found the plans first, and my first attempts weren't very successful, but I got it right eventually. And now I'm immortal and even more awesome! You can't even-"

"Mist White Overdrive!" Peach knew Bowser's weakness for gloating all too well, and exploited it to charge up an attack hopefully strong enough to take him out in one go. She concentrated as much Ripple and healing magic as she could between her palms, then threw it right at Bowser's chest.

Bowser blasted the ball of mist with his flame breath, but only succeeded in detonating it early. The waves of bright mist exploded outward, blinding everyone involved for a good half minute. Peach's vision eventually returned, and though her attack had vaporized Bowser Jr.'s front half (leaving only his shell and tail, which quickly disintegrated into ash), Bowser was still mostly intact, albeit badly burned.

Before either Koojo or Peach could launch a follow-up attack, Bowser melted into his own shadow and vanished from sight. "Not bad, Princess, but it'll take more than that to beat me! Of course, I'll need to recover from that, so here's some entertainment while you wait for the main course!"

On cue, six more figures dropped from the ceiling. Peach recognized them as the other six Koopalings: Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, Roy, Wendy and Ludwig. They'd all been vampirized as well, and possessed magic scepters.

"My FP's out," Peach said. "Can you cover me for a moment?"

"It'd be my pleasure." Koojo stepped forward and did the classic hand-waving taunt towards the turned Koopalings.

"For King Dad!" Roy shouted as the six of them charged at him. Koojo responded by ducking into his shell and forcing himself into Ludwig's stomach, then pinballing all over the place. Unfortunately, Roy caught him on his third rebound, and despite his hands burning up from touching Koojo's Ripple-enhanced shell, he managed to twist his tail into a drill and impale Koojo.

"No!" Peach shouted, dropping the bottle of Royal Syrup in her hands. They'd purchased supplies on credit from Rose Town before heading out for battle, as well as a handy bag of holding to store them in, but it took time to retrieve an item and consume it - time that had led to Koojo's mortal injury. And after Roy had drawn first blood, the other Koopalings were on him like hungry Cheep-Cheeps, literally tearing him limb-from-limb and draining his arms, legs and tail dry.

And that was enough. Peach's rage exploded outward as waves of ultraviolet Ripple, driving the Koopalings back from Koojo's body. Without even thinking, she charged at the six of them, charging Ripple in her hands. Iggy and Larry stepped up first, twisting their arms into giant scythes - but Peach moved like a lightning bolt, delivering two simultaneous Sunlight Yellow Overdrives to the twins' heads, dropping them instantly.

Next was Wendy O., who kept her distance while throwing red rings from her scepter, while Roy engaged Peach head-on. Roy turned his entire lower body into a sledge and slammed the ground, sending out shockwaves of force that created huge cracks in the stone floor. But Peach had seen this trick before, and used her rarely-mentioned floating powers to hover over to Roy while avoiding the ground-based waves. She plunged her fingers through Roy's skull and into his brain, melting it with pure Ripple, then charged his corpse up with more Ripple and chucked it in the general direction of Wendy. It exploded, splattering her head-to-toe with Ripple-charged blood, dissolving her quickly but painfully.

Ludwig was next up, and he also kept his distance from Peach, while taking potshots at her from both his scepter as well as beams of energy fired from his eyes. Peach tried using her Ripple-charged palm to stop one of the eye beams, but it pierced right through her hand, causing her to recoil in pain. Ludwig took his chance and fired two more beams right at her head, but she rolled out of the way in the nick of time (the beams singed her hair) grabbed Roy's fallen scepter, and fired it with all of the Ripple and FP she had left. Ludwig braced himself for impact, but the blast completely vaporized him.

Lemmy... wisely ran away.

Peach dropped to her knees, barely conscious after her display of power. She fumbled for her bag of holding, and after a few failed attempts, procured another Royal Syrup as well as an Ultra Shroom Shake. Since it seemed that she was alone for the time being, she chugged both down, restoring her to fighting condition for the next round.

"Peach..."

The soft voice startled Peach. She reflexively assumed a defensive stance and looked around for the source of the voice... only to focus on Koojo's mutilated body, evidently still barely clinging on to life. She ran over and kneeled beside his head, the only part of his body still whole.

"I'm sorry!" Peach said, and the tears came once again. "I should have saved you, I-"

"Sssh... it's okay," Koojo whispered. "I... I lied to you before. The prophecy said that I would sacrifice my life to save yours..."

Peach tried to argue, but her throat was so tight that she barely choked out a sob.

"Put your hand on my shell," Koojo said. "I've got some Ripple left... take it, you'll need it."

"But I-"

"I don't have a lot of life left in me. Do it now, before I fade away..."

Peach obediently placed both of her hands on his shell, trying to stop the torrent of tears, but they simply wouldn't stop coming.

Koojo grinned. "You're compassionate... more than I ever was. That alone makes you a better Ripple master- no, a better person in general. Don't lose your compassion, Princess Peach... it'll separate you from the monsters. Now... Ultimate Deep Pass Overdrive!"

Koojo passed the last of his life force, Ripple and skills into Peach. And as the life faded from his body, he shifted into his true form - a blue lizard-like creature, covered head-to-toe in scars. With that, Koojo was no more.


	6. Phantom Blood, Part 6

"Gwaah ha ha!" Bowser reappeared in the center of the throne room, materializing from a thick black shadow on the floor. "I get it now. He was from another world, and that's how he knew about the Ripple."

Peach stared at him wordlessly. Her rage and despair had transcended simple anger - it was something elemental, more primal than what could be contained in a simple mortal vessel. The air tingled with raw power.

"But I'm not quite ready to fight you yet. You've got one last challenge before you gain the right to challenge the Eternal Demon King. Now come out, my mustachioed servant!"

Another shadow manifested before Bowser, and it manifested in the form of a squat, burly man with a magnificent mustache. Like his brother, his trademark cap was missing, and his blue overalls and red shirt had been replaced by a blue shirt and red overalls. He wore a spiked choker around his neck and similar spiked bracelets, and his eyes, burning bright red, had nothing less than hate for the princess he had served in life.

"This is unforgivable, Bowser," Peach said. "I'm going to destroy you down to the last atom. And then I'll wipe out everything related to you. Your troops, your castle, the very air you breathed. No one will remember you but as a footnote in history."

"My my, that's some language coming from the fair Princess!" Bowser said. "In any case, I'm interested to see how you do against your little boyfriend. Ta ta!"

Bowser again melted into the shadows, narrowly avoiding a beam of light from Peach's fingers. Mario assumed a defensive stance, but something seemed off about him - as if he was trying to resist the command from his master.

"Mario..." Peach whispered. "Please, Mario. If you're in there..."

Mario bared his teeth and charged, but he inadvertently stepped in one of the fissures created by Roy's sledge attack and faceplanted onto the floor. Peach remained still, not wanting to help nor harm her dearest friend.

"Urgh... Princess..." Mario muttered. "Kill... me..."

The Princess took a step back as Mario got up and continued his charge. As he approached, Peach had no choice but to attack. She side-stepped him and used his momentum against him, judo-throwing him into the ground once again - but she used no Ripple in the attack.

"Mario, please, you must resist his control!" Peach said. "I know you can do it!"

"...I saw what happened to Luigi," Mario said. "He... he resisted at first too, but it wasn't long before he was cackling with the rest of them. Please... end it, before I turn too..."

"Luigi is... in a better place now," Peach said. "I defeated him."

"Good... now do the same to me."

"But-"

"Princess!" Mario got up. "It's too late for me. And I don't want to become... them."

Peach had no tears left to cry. She too realized that it was an act of mercy to end Mario here and now, rather than let him become a perversion of everything he stood for.

"Mario..." Peach choked out. "I never said it, but..."

"I know," Mario said. "But... it never would have worked, between us."

Mario ripped open his shirt, revealing a large gash in his chest. "I saved something for you. Take it..."

With a shout of rage and anguish, Peach delivered a Sunlight Yellow Overdrive directly into Mario's chest, painlessly vaporizing him in a few moments.

Peach fell to the ground, burying herself in Mario's ashes - and hitting her head on something other than the floor. She dug through the pile of ashes, revealing something she thought she'd lost forever: her old brooch, a large sapphire set in gold, shining brightly. Mario must have smuggled it inside his body for her. It was still warm and smelled of him - not of a decomposing corpse, but of mushrooms, pasta sauce, strong cologne and a thousand other scents gained throughout his adventures. Peach fastened it to the front of her gi, right above her breasts, and it brought her a familiar sense of comfort.

The brooch was a Mushroom Kingdom heirloom, said to be hewn from a single massive sapphire, and passed between female members of the royal family. It had a number of superstitions attached to it, including rumours of protective magic or other special abilities, but Peach wore it because it reminded her of her mother - and now, it would remind her of her closest friend as well.

"How disappointing!" Bowser once again reappeared. "He held out longer than I exp-"

Peach didn't even let him finish, as she blasted him with a wordless Mist White Overdrive. Bowser tried to block it, but its power, augmented by the souls of both Koojo and Mario, was more than he expected, and it disintegrated his left arm from the elbow down. Peach threw another Mist White Overdrive, and another, and Bowser was forced to dodge by melting back into his shadow - but Peach was expecting that as well, and detonated the third Overdrive mid-flight, searing the shadow with Ripple-enhanced light.

Something moved at the corner of Peach's eye. She turned to face the back of the hall, but Bowser took his chance to retaliate by rematerializing and tearing into Peach's back with his claws. The Ripple in her body blackened his hand, but he cared little, as he bowed his head and rushed her, impaling her on one of his horns.

"Bad idea," Peach sputtered between spurts of blood from the mouth. She pressed both her hands on Bowser's cranium, and, summoning every last bit of Ripple, FP and life-force she had, pumped it directly into Bowser's skull. He screamed out in agony, and as Peach's consciousness faded, she felt nothing but smug satisfaction for finally avenging the death of the Mushroom Kingdom and all its citizens.

Peach regained consciousness a short time later. She was bleeding profusely from both the front and back, and had a giant hole right through her stomach. She couldn't properly breathe to summon up Ripple, but she did have some FP left; she called up her Therapy spell, regenerating her lost blood and filling in the hole in her stomach with fresh bone, sinew, blood vessels and skin. It would leave a huge scar, but Peach could care less at the moment.

Restored for the time being, Peach got to her feet. She was still in the throne room of Bowser's Castle, with the ashen remains of five Koopalings and one Mario, the remains of a lizard-like creature that had been her mentor Koojo, serving as signs of the battle that had gone on. A new addition was a trail of blood, leading from another pile of ashes on the floor all the way to the throne in the back of the room. Peach carefully followed it, using her Ripple breathing all the way, and what lied at the end confirmed her fears.

Bowser was still alive.

Granted, her final Overdrive had reduced him to a head, part of a torso and a stump of an arm, and a bit of his shell. His red hair had been burned away and the skin on the left side of his face had sloughed off, revealing bone in some places.

Bowser was looking up at the stone statue of a winged, horned human man seated next to his throne. "Please..." he sputtered, "please, Lord Kars, you must grant me more power!"

The statue shook of its own accord, and an unearthly voice filled the room. "I have granted you the power necessary to bring me the Aja. Now that you have done so, I have no further use for you."

Bowser looked up at the statue, his remaining eye wide with shock. "But you can't- you promised-"

The statue shifted again, and a lance of stone shot out from one of the statue's horns, spearing Bowser through the brain. "I have dealt with you long enough, worm. Now you will serve me in a different way."

Bowser didn't even have time for a death rattle as the stone horn completely absorbed what remained of his body. Both the horn and the statue crumbled, and in its place stood a human man, nearly two and a half meters tall, and bestowed with the physique of a Greek god. His red hair was long and flowing, and besides the black feathered wings covering his arms, he wore only a black G-string with an extra strip of material over the front.

The man gazed at Peach. "You, woman. You are the Ripple warrior that defeated my proxy?"

"I am," Peach said. "I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. May I ask your name in return?"

"I am Kars," the man said simply. "I desire the Aja stone below your throat, and nothing more. Give that to me and no further harm will come to you."

"I've been threatened with that way too many times in the past few days," Peach said. "Tell me why you want it first."

Kars sighed. "It has been many thousands of years since I engaged in conversation... Very well, I will tell you.

"On my home world, I was of a race of beings that thrived in the night, but perished in the light of the sun. It was my dream to one day walk with my human cousins in the warm sunlight, and to that end, I created the Stone Mask. Using it gave me greater power, but it did not cure my weakness... indeed, it only strengthened and reinforced my fear of the light.

"In time, I learned of a stone called the Aja. It was known for amplifying the same energy you call the Ripple, and I knew in my heart that, when combined with my Stone Mask, it would finally grant my dream. I searched high and low for it, and eventually, I located a large enough stone to work - but it was in the hands of my enemies, who used Ripple like yourself. Through my own machinations, I finally acquired the Aja and used it, gaining the powers of the Ultimate Life Form that I truly deserved... but one lowly worm saw to it that I was launched into space, and I was unable to use my new powers to return.

"I spent eons drifting silently in space, and I came to a realization. The Aja I used in my bid for supreme power was red. I do not expect a worm to know the nuances of the electromagnetic spectrum, but put simply, red is a low colour. If I had a stone of a higher colour..."

"Like my brooch," Peach said, realizing the obvious. "How did you end up here?"

"It was a twist of fate," Kars said, his expression unchanging. "I fell from the sky and landed in this kingdom, where the worm known as Bowser woke me from my slumber. He knew of a stone that matched the description of the Aja, so I gave him the plans for my Stone Mask, which would give him enough power to retrieve the stone and bring it to me. And once I use its power, I will become even greater, and no worm will ever outsmart me again."

"You're refreshingly honest," Peach said. "But you're admitting to me that you want my brooch so you can become an even greater menace, likely threatening the entire Mushroom World and probably other worlds as well. You do realize that doesn't exactly endear you to me, right?"

"You are nothing to me, worm. I am the Ultimate Life Form. Nothing will protect you from me if you incur my divine wrath."

"But you were outsmarted once, right? And who says I can't do it again?"

Peach's mouthing-off was answered by several thorned tentacles sprouting from Kars' chest and impaling her in the abdomen. Kars did the classic villain slow walk towards her, making sure to twist the thorns within her to cause her as much suffering as possible for slightly impeding his goal.

Well, so much for that. Against all odds, she had defeated Bowser, six of his kids and a bunch of his undead servants... only to die at the hands of an extraterrestrial vampire god who had literally come from nowhere. And the worst part was that she felt his raw power, both through the tentacles stuck in her chest and through the invisible electricity in the air. It wasn't just Ripple energy - though he had that in abundance as well - but it was almost like he controlled the very stuff of life himself, able to manipulate his body to mimic any living thing he desired.

And he'd achieved it with the Stone Mask and an Aja.

Speaking of which, Kars raised his hand, and another Stone Mask floated from the remains of his statue form to him. It was similar to the one Bowser had shown, but with one major difference - there was a large divot in the forehead of the mask, likely meant to hold an Aja. He placed it on his face as he reached Peach, and though she struggled against his thorns, she knew she had no chance of escape.

But she did have a plan.

Summoning as much energy as she could through the blinding pain, Peach threw a dazzling ball right into Kars' face. Blinded by the maneuver, Kars stepped back slightly, but unlike the vampires created by Bowser's imitation Stone Mask, he was entirely unharmed. It seemed that he had indeed conquered the sun.

But that was merely a distraction. Peach grabbed the thorns, puncturing her hands, and pulled herself closer to Kars. In an instant, she ripped the mask off of his face, placed it on her own, and shoved her brooch into it. He'd said that the Aja was a Ripple amplifier, so it only made sense in Peach's frantic mind that channeling Ripple into it would activate the transformation.

Time seemed to slow down as Kars, his face wild with anger, reached for the stone. Peach summoned up her final reserves of Ripple energy and, hoping against hope, channeled it into her forehead.

The Aja stone activated, and Peach's body exploded in dazzling light.


	7. Phantom Blood, Part 7

A short time later, Peach once again regained consciousness. She didn't feel any different than before, but she did notice that she was no longer impaled on Kars' thorn tentacles. In fact, Kars was standing a short distance away, his face frozen in abject horror, unable to even move.

Peach looked over her new body. She seemed taller than she was before, and she had gained quite a bit of muscle mass, though not to the degree of Kars' Adonic physique. She was also stark naked; as in response to her shame, her body shifted on its own accord, covering herself in thick blonde feathers.

Though initially surprised, Peach seemed to understand the extent of her powers on an instinctual level. Her body was entirely under her control; she could morph it into any organic thing she wanted, though she could not directly gain mass without absorbing it from something else first. She was also immortal, ageless, and pretty much unable to die by any source internal or external, even by her own hand. In short... well, Ultimate Life Form might not have been an entirely accurate descriptor, but it was pretty darn close.

"You..." Kars mouthed. "You... You... You! You! You! You!" Finally regaining control of his body, Kars morphed into a bestial, four-legged form armed with claws, fangs and crescent blades underneath his arms. He moved quickly, but it seemed to Peach that she had an eternity to decide what to do.

Kars had similar abilities to her own, but possibly weaker, if his belief about the colour of the Aja was correct. (Despite his assertions, Peach was aware of the electromagnetic spectrum; the wavelength of light corresponding to "blue" was of a higher wavelength than the wavelength of "red", and thus a blue stone might bestow more power than a red one, but she wouldn't be able to confirm that at the moment.) Like her, Kars was immortal and ageless, at least to mortal beings... but could he be harmed by a fellow immortal? There was no way to find out other by experimentation...

Peach shifted parts of her body into pink wool, covering herself in a facsimile of her old pink dress. She too armed herself with claws both on her hands and feet, as well as an extra set of prehensile vines covered in thorns coming from her back - though she had to sacrifice some of her muscle mass to come up with enough material for them. She also took a deep breath, hoping to generate some Ripple for use against Kars, but the sheer magnitude of her new power allowed her to generate not just some Ripple, but at least three hundred times more than she could have in her mortal body.

Kars immediately recognized the presence of Ripple in her body, and responded in kind, covering himself in a prismatic aura. He pounced at Peach, blades and fangs at the ready, but her vines stretched and grabbed him around the midsection while she tore at him with her claws. Kars' teeth extended, piercing her in the kidney; she felt a small twinge of pain, but it was distant and easy to ignore.

Peach's hands shifted into large chitinous spikes, which she jabbed into Kars' ribs. With a shout of "Sunlight Rainbow Overdrive!" she delivered a powerful jolt of Ripple into his body, enough to send him into uncontrollable spasms and singe most of his body hair.

But Kars was clever as well, and mimicked her attack with a Ripple jolt of his own, channeled through the fang in her side. That one hurt. Most of Peach's body went numb for a few moments, long enough for Kars to clamp his maw around her throat, but she recovered in time to turn her throat, lower jaw and upper chest into hardened bone, breaking his teeth. Kars jumped back with a snarl.

Neither of them had taken serious damage yet. Peach seemed to have the upper hand in overall power, but Kars was smart enough to use any strategy she had against her, and any injury wouldn't last for more than a few seconds. But then again, they weren't really testing the limits of their power. There might be collateral damage, but the only residents of the castle were vampires and zombies, and Peach had planned on destroying all of them as well. No one would miss Bowser's Castle, or even the Dark Land itself, would they?

With another deep breath, Peach moved at near-supersonic speed, crashing into Kars with an immense amount of force. They flew clear to the other end of the throne room and through a few walls behind it, tearing at each other with claws and thorns all the way. Peach channeled her massive Ripple into her arms, allowing her to reduce nearly a tenth of Kars' body mass into a fine red mist with a single explosive punch. The recoil of the punch sent both combatants flying to opposite ends of the Castle, no doubt breaking more of Bowser's priceless statuary and killing plenty of zombies in the crossfire.

Peach recovered quickly and went back after Kars. While she had effectively infinite Ripple on her side, she also noticed that she had effectively infinite FP as well. Unfortunately, her status as an Ultimate Life Form (or something close to it) did not bestow upon her the combined knowledge of the Mushroom World's magical research, and she doubted Kars would be hurt by her healing magic, but she did have one offensive option...

Also, with effectively infinite FP and the ability to slow down her perception for short periods of time, she quickly worked out a simple flight spell on the fly. It was a pretty vulgar spell compared to the more refined flight spells she'd seen in use, but with her lack of limitations, she could afford to bleed FP out of every orifice as long as it gave her a mobility advantage.

She again moved quickly, flying easily through the holes left by the battle, and came across Kars, who had shifted form. This time, he was a four-armed monstrosity covered head-to-toe in thick chitinous armor. Oddly enough, he had not only recovered from the loss of mass from Peach's explosive punch, but he had seemingly gained mass, as he was quite a bit taller and bulkier than he was previously. Peach was momentarily confused by that, but her question was quickly answered when a group of Koopatrol zombies rounded the corner - and Kars' second arms stretched out and absorbed them, adding even more mass to his considerable bulk.

Kars said something, but his mouth had been replaced by insectoid mandibles, and was thus unfit for human speech. Even still, Peach understood him perfectly: "I am a god! No mere worm will threaten me!" Typical villain gloating. Peach recomposed herself as well, losing the prehensile vines, most of her hair and all but a bit of her dress's skirt to gain a second pair of malformed arms protruding from her chest. They lacked an elbow joint but had fully articulate hands, which she used to double-cast the main offensive spell she knew: a blast of force normally strong enough to topple Bowser over, but now strong enough to pile-drive Kars several hundred metres into the solid earth below. Without pause, Peach followed up with an unrelenting barrage of Overdrives, channeling enough Ripple energy to melt the stone and dirt around her. The molten stone and rock flowed into the pit, trapping Kars within.

She doubted it would hold him for very long, but she needed a quick breather to plan ahead. Even with her new powers, Kars was all but unkillable, though she was as well - she didn't fancy fighting him forever to keep him occupied, since that would likely only lead to the total destruction of the Mushroom World itself (its civilizations at the very least, and the planet itself at the most). It was within her power to launch him back into space, but he'd had enough time to reflect on his defeat and come up with a way to counter that. And even if he hadn't, and he ended up drifting through space again, he might eventually land on another inhabited world, and this entire tragedy would play out again.

No, she had to stop him permanently. Would the sun do it? Possibly, but her techno-wizard advisors had warned her that it was exceptionally difficult to hurl something into the sun when she'd asked. And even Bowser, who was orders of magnitude weaker than Kars, had survived a plunge into a star before (though there were very extenuating circumstances surrounding that particular incident). And in the worst case, Kars might find some way to channel solar energy and become even stronger, which was a definite no-no.

It was then that Peach noticed that one of Kars' fangs was still stuck in her side. It was wriggling against her, deliberately trying to cause her injury, and Peach felt that it was still connected to Kars in some way. Her body reacted by breaking it down into its component cells, and when even that wasn't enough, broke it down further into individual molecules, adding ever slightly to her own mass.

Perfect.

Of course, Kars had more mass than her at the moment, and he might still be able to mentally overpower her if she tried absorbing him in all in one go. And now that she'd attempted it on him, he'd likely try to attempt it on her. And the vibrations beneath her feet suggested to her that Kars was already digging out of his temporary prison. She needed to act fast.

Another group of zombies came running into the huge crater, and Peach instinctively flew over to them and absorbed their biomass, adding them to her own. But it wasn't enough to overpower Kars, and she didn't have the time to go and absorb more. But... if she could break down organic materials with a will of their own, could she absorb inorganic materials?

She pressed the soles of her feet to the dirt and stone below, changing the cells in her feet so that they would spew a powerful digesting enzyme. Sure enough, it was enough to dissolve the dirt and stone into its component parts, which her cells assembled into more biomass. She converted about half of her body into digesting cells and the other half into reassembling cells, and by the time Kars finally broke the surface of his prison, Peach had created nearly a literal ton of extra mass.

Kars again spoke through his mandibles, and though Peach had temporarily lost her ears, she still understood him. He had been thrown into magma once before, but he'd obviously survived it and come up with a countermeasure in case it happened again - namely, the thick armor as well as mole-like digging claws on each of his four arms. Of course, he didn't immediately understand why Peach had reduced herself to a puddle of flesh-coloured goo, or why the puddle was much larger than her original body...

Peach reassembled herself, forming a five-meter-tall humanoid body with an equally-large pink dress. While she was aware of the square-cube law and the constraints it put on huge constructions, her abilities allowed her to bypass, or at least ignore, the limitations for now... but she also wasn't interested in experimenting with the limits of her powers right now, so she immediately grabbed Kars and absorbed him into her body, where the super-powerful enzyme cells started to digest him.

Just as planned, Kars quickly figured out what was happening and launched a counter-measure, namely by trying to digest Peach in return. He created and fired out spears of digestive cells into her innards, but she quickly countered them by zapping them with Ripple and absorbing them while they were stunned. Kars himself proved resistant to that tactic, and indeed, he was quickly gaining more biomass than he was losing.

So Peach blew her body up.

More accurately, Peach's consciousness, hiding in her real body underneath the earth, remotely commanded her giant facsimile body to fly upwards, through every layer of Bowser's castle and into the sky, then self-detonate with an enormous burst of Ripple. The ensuing explosion of Ripple and light lit up the entire Dark Land, killing the majority of the Koopa Troop's remaining zombies, while also severely damaging Kars in the process.

Peach felt the pain of the explosion, but it was quite distant, and easy to ignore. Kars, on the other hand, was at the literal center of the explosion, and he did not fare so well. His entire being cried out in pain as he was ripped apart to his component cells; but for every one of Kars' cells that survived the explosion, two of Peach's survived as well, and he was quickly overpowered and consumed.

Peach was the only one to hear Kars' last words. He cried out for two minions, begging them to come and rescue him from this newly-created tyrant goddess. For a moment, Peach almost felt two presences near her real body, but they just as quickly vanished as Kars went to his final rest.


	8. Phantom Blood, Part 8

Sometime later, after digging herself out of her bunker, Peach emerged onto the ruins of Bowser's Castle. While she still retained remote control of all of the biomass she'd absorbed, she psychically converted it all back into a single piece of stone, carved into a monument of the fallen Mario Brothers. This didn't sever her connection to it, but it would at least prevent her from feeling anything through it.

As she stepped over the rubble of the once-proud castle, she felt a presence struggling beneath a particular slab. Her newfound powers let her easily lift the slab, which she casually tossed to the side, just as Bowser had to her old safe room.

"By the Star Road, please, spare me!" Lemmy Koopa begged her. "I saw what you did to my dad and that other guy! I promise I'll never do anything bad ever again!"

Peach considered him for a moment. She could sense that he was telling the truth, not because of her Ultimate Life Form powers or anything, but thanks to her training as a diplomat. Plus, though Lemmy had always been mischievous, she didn't think he was truly malicious; and certainly he might bear a grudge against her for what she did to his family, but at this point, she was more than powerful enough to be unfazed by such threats.

"Alright, but on one condition," Peach said. "I'm going to purge you of your vampirism and return you to the living. If you agree to that, I'll let you go."

"Yeah, I agree, definitely!" Lemmy said. "I didn't like those powers anyways. I like light and the sun! I just went along with it 'cause my brothers wanted me to!"

Absorbing Kars' body had also resulted in Peach gaining some, but not all, of Kars' memories and experiences. Part of what she did retain was his desire to finally see the beauty of the sunrise, and how that dream drove him to such lengths; but even considering that, he had committed innumerable atrocities in his long life, and he had no desire to change even after becoming an Ultimate Life Form. He was a potential threat to the entire universe if left unchecked, and it was better that he was now dead, or at least permanently dormant, within Peach.

Another part of the memories she absorbed concerned the Stone Mask, including its use and construction. By sifting through his memories, Peach was able to come up with a sort of Reversal Mask, which used the Ripple to restore life to an undead body. It was tricky to do, and Peach wasn't even sure if a mortal Ripple user could pull it off; but she was successful in using it on Lemmy, and hoped that if any Mushroom Kingdom citizens remained, she could purify them as well.

After the Reversal Mask procedure turned out to be a success, Peach and Lemmy sat down on a piece of rubble, and watched the sun rise over the former Dark World for the first time in many years.

"...I must apologize to you, Lemmy," Peach said. "...The magnitude of Bowser's crimes did not justify this level of retaliation. My battle with Kars resulted in the destruction of everything your forefathers built over many generations... and I do not know if I can ever truly apologize for that."

"Well, we pretty much destroyed each other's kingdoms, so I'd say we're pretty much even there," Lemmy said. "Besides, Bowser converted pretty much everyone in both kingdoms into mindless zombies against their will. You just gave them peace, so I'd say he was worse off in that regard."

"So what will you do now? You're technically the last of the Koopa Troop."

Lemmy sighed. "You know, I never wanted to be a part of this war stuff. I always wanted to join the circus, but I was always afraid that my brothers would do bad things to me if I tried to run away. But now I guess it's up to me to rebuild my glorious forefathers' Koopa Troop and all that..."

"You don't have to do that," Peach said. "Why don't you go and join the circus? The Koopa Troop can end here."

"I don't think it'll be that easy, Princess. Like you said, I'm the last of the Koopa Troop, so I'm probably gonna have to answer for Bowser's crimes. Plus... I ain't exactly clean myself. I might've been forced to do it, but I still helped him take over kingdoms and kidnap you and stuff."

"You're welcome to come live with me in the Mushroom Kingdom. I'll need help rebuilding as well."

Lemmy looked out into space for a while. "I'm not sure what I wanna do. But I think I've gotta get out of here. Maybe I'll go see the world, do some good stuff for a change. And if they don't throw me in prison for twenty lifetimes, maybe I'll be able to make up for the bad things I've done."

"Then I wish good luck to you, Lemmy Koopa," Peach said. "And if you're not thrown into prison for twenty lifetimes," she said with a smile, "then you'll be welcome in the Mushroom Kingdom once it's been rebuilt."

"Thanks, Princess."

Lemmy walked off, through the rubble and into the sunrise. Peach lingered for a while more, looking at the devastation caused by her battle with Kars. At the time, when she grabbed the mask, she was panicking and only thinking of her immediate survival; but now, in the wake of everything that had happened, she had time to think about just what she had done.

But there would be time for rumination later. For now, Peach had a Kingdom to rebuild.

"You called, Princess?"

The new Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom, an elderly Toad by the name of Ice T., gently opened the door to Peach's private study. The walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of books of all shapes and sized, and in the back of the room, sitting in a worn old chair against a sturdy wooden desk, sat Princess Peach, casually flipping for a spellbook.

Ten years had passed since the destruction of the Mushroom Kingdom. The reconstruction effort was still ongoing, and likely would go on for the years to come, but it had at least returned to a semblance of normalcy. Toad Town was a shadow of its former self, populated by emigrates who returned to aid in the reconstruction effort, or skilled labourers who had plenty of work and a steady cash flow, or opportunists who provided some other function to the citizens of the kingdom. And though Mushroom Castle had been rebuilt to exact specifications, Peach had never felt the same sense of comfort in its halls as she had in her former ancestral home.

Peach closed the book and set it aside. "Chancellor... I'm afraid," she said.

"But not of anything from outside," the Chancellor said, pointing at the setting sun outside, then at his own heart. "You're afraid of yourself."

"...I am ageless and nearly unkillable. I wield magic, the Ripple, and the abilities of the Ultimate Life Form." Peach rose from her chair. "I know that I can be trusted now. But as the years go on, I'll be more and more tempted to use my powers... and from there, it's a slippery slope to becoming just as bad as Bowser or Kars."

The Chancellor hesitated for a moment, then said, "I will not lie to you, Princess. Some of the members of the Royal Court have voiced the same thoughts. The provisions in the new Constitution are somewhat of a comfort, but we... I know that if you truly wanted to remain in power, a few laws would do nothing to stop you."

As part of the reconstruction of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach and the newly-assembled Royal Court had passed a number of new laws, including a new Constitution. Within it was a provision that limited the reigning monarch to 100 years in power throughout their lifetime. Peach's reasoning was that she would provide stability for the kingdom in the short them, then step down and train a successor, and the written-in-stone time limit would prevent her from delaying that over and over.

"I..." Peach thought back to everything she'd done during those fateful seven days. "Barely a moment's passed since then that I haven't been tempted to use my power. And... I'm tired. So, so tired."

"You haven't slept at all?"

"No, not like that. But everything... the reconstruction, the politicking, the speeches, being the eternally optimistic princess who assures everyone that everything's going to be all right... I know it's selfish of me, but, but I wish I could just sleep for a few years."

The Chancellor took Peach's hand in his own. "You've done so much for us, Princess. The Mushroom Kingdom couldn't have come back without you at the helm. So go. You deserve some rest."

"...It may be more than a few years," Peach said.

"We can handle the day-to-day life of the kingdom. But if something else like Kars shows up, we may need your help once more."

A single sexy tear fell from Peach's eye. "Thank you, Chancellor. For everything."

The Princess and Chancellor walked down into the empty Main Hall, then down into the basement. They gave each other one final look, then parted.

Beneath a thick red rug in the corner of a storage room was a metal hatch. It was heavy and deliberately constructed to be difficult to open, but Peach flipped it open with ease. Beneath it was a staircase that led down, into the depths of the earth. It'd been constructed in secret during the rebuilding of the castle, known to Peach herself and a few higher-ups in the Royal Court. It was a resting place, of sorts.

The stairs led into a circular room hewn right from the bedrock. The room was simple and undecorated, its only notable feature being a smooth, square stone pillar in the middle. Peach waved her hand, and a large black slab fell from the ceiling, blocking off the room from the stairs; the door was made of Peach's biomass converted into black stone, and as such would signal any attempts at intrusion to her tomb. She had constructed similar items and monuments and placed them all around the Mushroom Kingdom, so that she could remain at least tangentially connected to her kingdom even in rest.

Peach leaned up against one of the surfaces of the stone pillar, and she felt her body melt into it, taking on the qualities and texture of the bedrock it was made of. This was the final piece of information she had gained from Kars; at times, he and the other Pillar Men had gone to sleep for thousands of years at a time for various reasons. They would need to be reawakened with a sacrifice of blood, but in Peach's case, the Ripple in her body would preserve her in perfect condition for a near eternity.

And so, as Peach drifted off to her stone slumber, she thought of the destruction and reconstruction of her kingdom, the loss of so many friends, allies and enemies, and the power of the Ultimate Life Form within her. She had once ruminated that a threat like Kars was something they couldn't have ever possibility planned for... but now, if something else of that magnitude appeared, she would be waiting. And ready to defend her home once again.


	9. Extra: Princess Peach Overdrive

_(Note: This is an intentionally bad and silly story. Skip it if you wish.)_

PRINCESS PEACH OVERDRIVE

Princess peach was sitting at her desk reading a cake cookbook when she saw a bird fly into her widow. She picked up bird and saw that it had a note tied to its leg. She read the letter and it said "princess peach please help, my kingdom is under attavk! Signed princess daisy." Princess daisy was peachs half sister and was the ruler of sarsassaland from Mario land. But she was under attack! Mario and luigi were in sky land helping sky king save the world, so it was up to princess peach to save the world herself!

"but what about bowser" butler mushroom said.

"bowser was defeated by Mario brothers and put in castle dungeon forever," princess peach said. We do not have to worry about him anymore! She said and laughed at him.

"ok well be safe" butlet shrrom said and gave her keys to her car. Princess peach took keys and did a triple flip off her chair and went to castle garage. Her car was a royal atv decorated with pink and gold and many many weapons and propellor wings. Princess peach got in car and blasted off, going to sasaraland like ligte ning.

But on the way princess peach was attacked ! they were weird easter iland heds with wings like from the game. "mwa ha ha" easter iland hed said "we will stop yopu princess peach!"

No you will not! Princess peach said and used her laser car on them. Easter iland heds shot out rings of energy but they did not work! Peachmobile had force fields and invinvible armor and was not destyroyable by things. "I will stop you heds!" Princess peach killed all the heds with her mist white overdrive and kept going to princess daisy side.

Later princess peach made it to sarsaraland but the castle was hurt! Aliens were flying around the castle but princes peachmobile lasered them all in the face. "what are you doing you m*thereffers!" priceless peach said as she defeatde the aliens.

"ha ha ha you fell into my trp!" sad a voice. Princess peach looked and saw boss alien tatanga! Princess daisy was by his side. "princess peach help!" daisy screamed but tatanga said "I cannot be defeated by you!" and shot prachmobile with ultra lasers. Peach flew away from car as car exploded, defeating even more aliens with the explosion.

"I have been holding back" princess peach said and unleashed her true power, firing beam of huge energy at tatanga. "oh no tatnga said and stopped beam but only barely. "but I have been holding back too" tatanga said and ghot out of spacecraft. He muted into all biug and mussly like purple hulk but not bexause he was purple. "mwa ha ha" tatanga laughed and used his fist to punch peach's arm away.

"oh no my cake hand!" princess peach said her arm was bleeding bad. "but you are too late tatanga! My battle with the cars made me ultamite life form and gave me greaty power!" peach grunted and regrew her arm then punched tatanmgas arms off too.

"but you understimite me princess peach !I am ultamite life form too!" tatanga turned into giant dargon with many arms and heads. "behold my true form and dis pear!"

Princess peach was scared but herd daisy say "you must defeat him princess peach!" princess peach got her second wind and summonerd all her power. "fina l flash!" princess peach put her hands togethr and fired huge beam of gold nrg at the dargon. Tatanga could not stop it and flew back into space and the beam carried him into the sun and the sun exploded.

"thank you prach! You are my hero" daisy sad. "also i am lesbian now so I will make out with u" "sweet" peach said and they made out. the day was saved thanks to the princess peach! but peach got saikik vision of tatangas body lying in space and his eye opened! he was not dead! "i am sorry princess daisy but I must go"

"ok good luk" daisy said and her 3rd eye winkd as princess peach flew into space. tatanga was back hin his body but had engel wings and was stronger than ever! "woo the sun made me stronger" tatanga said and destoryed galaxy with one punch.

"not good enough to defea me" princess peach said and used her true power. "galactic princess buster!" princess peach grabbed three other galaxies and threw tatanga thru them then blew up galaxy withhim. But tatangs was still alive! "I will crush universe" tatanga said and brought all universe together in big crunch, but princess peach made big bang and reduced tatanga down to atomec level. "nooooooo" tatanga screamed as he finally was destyroyed for good.

"hooray I did it" princess peach said and returned to earth. the universe was safe for now… but it was only time until more came. but when they did princess peach would be ready!


	10. Battle Tendency, Part 1

"Hey Mist, I need some more ice!"

A group of five people – two Koopas, a Toad, a Goomba and a Monty Mole – were getting ready for their eighth consecutive day of hard physical labour. Despite the fact that it was mid-winter, the heat, even in the early dawn, was nearly unbearable; they would be out of direct sunlight today, but the sunbaked wasteland above at least had a brisk breeze, a comfort lacking in the sunken corridors below.

Mist T., the Toad, grabbed a simple wooden wand out of her pocket and waved it around in a practiced but nonchalant motion, creating a large block of ice in the center of the campsite. Kalamino, the younger Koopa, smashed the block with a sledgehammer, spraying the camp and everyone in the group with little shards of melting ice – normally a nuisance, but practically heaven to them. Mist's magical talent was pretty much limited to creating ice and wind in small amounts, but both of those talents were practically indispensable in the area formerly known as the Dark Land.

Though now uninhabited, the Dark Land had once been the home of the Koopa Troop. Their general morality and effectiveness had varied throughout the generations, but their last leader, the self-titled Demon King Bowser Koopa, had taken a number of disparate and warring tribes and united them under his great strength and authority, creating an army of terrifying power. Their goal was nothing less than to rule the entire Mushroom World, and Bowser himself had his eye on Princess Peach, the monarch of the neighbouring Mushroom Kingdom. His many failed kidnapping attempts of the fair Princess had granted him a certain infamy, with his name becoming synonymous with failure and single-mindedness. But his ambitions had for better or worse defined much of that era, and as such, surviving artifacts of the former Koopa Troop had become prized among both historians and private collectors.

Such was the purpose of this ragtag group. Four of them – Mist T. the Toad, Kalamino the Koopa, Momo the Goomba, and Boota the Monty Mole – were archaeology students from universities around the world. For various reasons, they had all signed up to be a part of this particular dig, headed and financed by the fifth member of their group, an elderly Koopa by the name of Ian. He'd come along with them both to monitor their activities as well as "to experience the thrill of archaeology one last time", and despite his advanced age, he worked just as hard as his four young employees.

They flicked on their headlamps as they climbed down the rope ladder leading into the sunken castle's main hall. The castle was still in fairly good shape, despite everything that had happened to it over the years; however, their group was not the first to dig at Bowser's Castle, and the many preceding excavations had cleaned it up somewhat. Still, there were plenty of sections left unexcavated and unexplored, and it was Ian's hope that they would be able to find an armory or trophy room, or something with plenty of artifacts in any case.

"Alright gang, let's split up," Ian said as they reached the bottom of the hall. "Mist, Kalamino and I will head to the fifth floor and continue digging out the kitchen. Momo, Boota, head to the third floor and keep working on that corridor."

The group nodded and headed off in their respective directions. The main hall was near the bottom of the castle, but it was the only part of the castle that was easily accessed from the surface; as such, they would have to walk through the castle to find anything of interest.

"What do you think of that guy?" Boota said to Momo as they walked through the empty castle, heading to the spot they'd ended at yesterday.

"Ian? He seems fine to me," Momo said. "Why do you ask?"

"He seems shifty to me. Seems like one of those types who's only interested in digging so he can find items of ultimate magical power for world domination or something."

"That's an oddly specific type of person," Momo said.

"You'd be surprised. I've heard plenty of stories like that from my dad and brothers. Remember the Son of Grodus? Our digging company helped him dig up most of Rogueport's underground."

"I don't know who that is, but I don't think you should be bragging about helping someone named after a villain."

"Eh, we don't get paid to care about good or evil."

Momo ignored her partner's comment as they continued onward. As was typical for the Monty Moles, Boota had two things he liked to talk about: digging, and getting paid to dig. He'd even admitted that he was mostly taking archaeology and anthropology just so he'd be able to identify rare items and sell them for a high price.

But he did have a point. She'd did a bit of research after taking this job, but besides a few donations to museums and the like, Ian had done comparatively little – or at least he hadn't done much that was on the record. He was apparently a private collector of some sort, and they tended to be eccentric and perhaps a bit shady at times, but he'd never done anything that raised suspicion around her. Indeed, he seemed quite excited about the dig, even though he freely admitted they probably wouldn't find anything noteworthy.

"Turn right here," Momo said as they entered another intersection.

"Huh?" Boota, who had already gone forward a bit, turned around. "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure we were working up ahead yesterday."

"No, it was to the right. See?" She held up her journal and flipped it to the last page, where she'd recorded the route to their worksite. "We went up two floors, took two lefts, and now we need to head right."

"Yeah, I knew that. I was just making sure you were paying attention." Boota quickly hurried back to Momo, and they continued down the right corridor. She didn't bother saying anything, since she'd learned through repeated conversation with him that there was really no point. She should've asked to go with Mist instead; they didn't really get along well either, but at least Mist had ice magic.

And after five more minutes of walking in silence, they made it back to their previous worksite. The corridor was blocked off by a landslide of gray stone and red earth; the debris pile had been partially cleared away by previous teams, but it had evidently been too difficult to tunnel through. Momo went to work setting up the site, lighting lanterns and writing down notes and the like, but Boota put on his metal digging claws and went right to work.

"Hey, hang on!" Momo said. "I want to check the blockage out first. It might collapse if we go in unprepared!"

"Come on, who do you think I am? I've got an eye for tunneling, and I can tell this thing's as stable as bedrock," Boota said. "Besides, what're you gonna do? You don't even have any arms!"

"Hmph. You're just jealous that I can use four shovels at the same time."

"And you're just jealous of my arms, Miss No-Arms." Boota snickered to himself. "Heh heh, Miss No-Arms. I'll have to remember that one."

Momo grabbed a few digging tools with her Goomba telekinesis and went to work on the debris pile. She was somewhat talented with multitasking compared to many of her kin, but she didn't have the stamina to do it for long; she was an archaeology student, not a miner, and though she had honed her multi-wielding skill thanks to the dig, she was hardly a hekagoomkheire. She was mostly taking out her frustration on Boota and on everything about this Star-forsaken dig on something that couldn't fight back.

Boota, on the other hand, had already dug several meters into the debris, and true to his word, the tunnel seemed completely stable. His digging claws had been enchanted to compress and reinforce the tunnels they dug, but even that only worked to a point – she'd heard many stories of other Monty Moles who'd been buried alive even with their special claws.

"I'm through!" Boota announced after about half an hour of digging. Sure enough, he'd thoroughly outpaced Momo, who'd barely made a dent in her side of the debris. Momo threw her tools to the side and climbed through Boota's tunnel.

On the other side was an enormous red gate studded in spikes, lying on the other side of a gap. Chunks of rope and rotted wood were lying on the ground below, on top of metamorphic rock that had long since cooled and hardened from lava. The gate itself was old and rusted, barely a shadow of its former glory.

"From what I've read… By the Stars, this might be the throne room!" Momo said. She grabbed a grappling-hook pistol from her pack and fired a length of rope to the other side, latching on to a stone post that had once supported a wooden bridge. She tied the other end of the rope around another stone post on their side. "Are you able to climb across that?"

"Of course I can, because-"

"You have arms, right." Momo went first, easily supporting herself with her telekinesis. Once she made the other side, Boota ditched his metal claws and shimmied across, and though his weight strained the rope, it was sturdy enough to support him all the way to the other side. They pushed on the gate, and though it took a bit of effort, they managed to open it and go through.

Sure enough, the enormous throne room stood before them. The light from their little headlamps were small comfort against the infinite darkness within.

"That's pretty big," Boota said. "I've seen bigger natural caves, but this had to be made from scratch."

A tattered red carpet beckoned them forward, and they followed it through the middle into the back of the room. A massive stone throne, and a smaller one beside it, still stood in all their vacant glory, untouched by the wear and tear of time.

Boota gasped in surprise as he kicked something small into the darkness, the noise of it clattering against the stone floor echoing throughout the entire room. "Whoa, what was that?"

"Dunno. Did you see where it went?"

"Nope."

Momo sighed as they went off in two different directions, looking for the object. As the light from Boota's headlamp faded into the darkness, Momo suddenly felt uneasy, as if something was still watching her.

Another yelp of surprise from Boota followed by the sound of rattling bones echoed from the left. Momo rushed over to him, finding him lying underneath a pile of old Koopa bones, panting heavily.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit scared. But check this out!" Boota held up both hands, holding a different object in each. In his right, he held a gold brooch set with an enormous blue gemstone. In his right was a stone mask, carved to look like a human's face save for the two large fangs protruding from its lips. "These things must be some kinda Koopa artifacts. They'll fetch us a huge bonus from Ian!"

Momo snatched both objects from Boota's hands. "These belong in a museum, not rotting away in some private collector's vault."

"That's another line my brothers hear all the time. Seriously, you think you'd make up for your lack of arms with some more original lines…"

Momo's witty retort was interrupted by red embers of flame appearing in the Koopa skeleton's eye sockets. Boota screamed and ran for the exit, kicking the bones all over the place – but some invisible force pulled the scattered bones together, creating a complete, animated skeleton. Momo had read about creatures like this in her great-Gooma's old bestiary: they were called Dry Bones, slow and somewhat unintelligent but virtually unstoppable. Momo wisely decided to run.

The Dry Bones rattled as it took a tentative step, then another. Though slow at first, it quickly broke out into an all-out run, chasing after the fleeing Momo. She made it to the gate, hoping to climb back to the other side of the trench on her grappling hook – but the rope had already been severed at the other end.

"Boota!" Momo yelled. "Boota, come on! I need your help!"

But no help came. Her grappling pistol was on the other side of the gap, she didn't have any more rope, and even if she jumped down, there was no way for her to climb up. She knew that the Dry Bones could be temporarily disabled by hitting it with a strong enough impact, but her Headbonk wasn't particularly strong, and she didn't have anything heavy… but she did still have the mask. Even if it was a valuable artifact, it wasn't as valuable as her life – and if she could delay it for a bit, maybe someone would come and help before it devoured her.

As the Dry Bones neared the gate, Momo gathered all of her telekinetic force and chucked the stone mask at it. It hit the Dry Bones right in the ribs, but it had absolutely no effect, not even slowing it down. This was it. In one last act of defiance, she chucked the brooch at it – and to her surprise, the brooch shattered its skull into a hundred tiny pieces, instantly downing the undead monster.

Momo ducked behind the gate, but she still felt a couple of shards of bone hit her right foot. Though stuck in her boot, they thankfully hadn't pierced the skin. She pulled the fragments out, then went to collect the two artifacts, making sure to tiptoe gently over the fallen Dry Bones. Thankfully, neither the brooch nor the mask were damaged, but as she picked the brooch up, she felt something odd about it – almost as if it was brimming with energy of some kind.

"Momo!" An icy bridge formed across the gap as Mist, Kalamino and Ian climbed through the tunnel. Holding the two artifacts close to her chest, Momo carefully walked across it, thanking her companions for saving her life.

The entire group had decided to retire for the day after the Dry Bones incident. Ian had taken a torch to its remains to make sure it was entirely gone, and had made sure to equip each of the students with one in case they uncovered other undead creatures in the castle rooms. Boota vehemently denied having cut the rope, but as far as Momo was concerned, that was the last straw.

"I'm gonna talk to Ian about it," Momo said to Mist as they were sitting in their tent. "Boota left me for dead. That's completely unacceptable."

"But he said he didn't do it," Mist said. "And sure, he tells a lot of stories, but he's never lied about anything. And he's even told stories about him going back and saving his brothers or whatever from certain doom! I'm sure he wouldn't leave you behind."

"But who else could've done it?" Momo said. "There was what, a minute between Boota escaping and me coming to the gap? Not much more or less than that, anyways."

"Well, um…" Mist trailed off.

"What?"

"Um, Mr. Ian was checking something else out when Boota came to us, and we found him pretty close to the throne room."

"Okay, now I definitely need to talk to him." Maybe Boota had been on to something when he said Ian was shifty.

As Momo left the ladies' tent, she heard a bloodcurdling scream come from the men's tent. She rushed over to the other tent, just as Kalamino's lifeless body flew through the tent's entrance. His head was only attached to his body by a bit of skin and muscle, and his face was frozen in shock. Momo shrieked and reflexively stepped away from the body, barely stopping herself from passing out from shock. A short time later, Ian, wearing the stone mask on his face, exited the tent, holding the withered husk of what had once been Boota in his hand.

"Ah, yes! It's been so long since I felt this good!" Ian took the mask off and threw it on the ground, then smashed it with his foot. He looked quite a bit younger now, and indeed his body had changed as well: his beak was gone, replaced by a mouth with prominent canine teeth, and spikes had grown on the surface of his shell.

"What the…?" Momo said, barely able to speak.

"Oh?" Ian looked at her nonchalantly. "Ah, hello Momo. Thank you so much for finding the Stone Mask for me."

"But… what did-"

"You're understandably confused, so let me explain." Ian threw Boota's body to the side. "See, my real name's not Ian, that's just a pseudonym. I'm really the last heir of the Koopa Troop, Lemmy Koopa! After Bowser was defeated, I went into the world and tried to make up for everything I did, and for a while I enjoyed it… but then I started to grow old. I longed for the strength of my youth, and as I searched for a way to prolong my life, I remembered the mask that Bowser had used to turn us all into vampires. If I had that, I'd live forever! And so I hired your little group to help me dig out his castle, with the intent to dispose of you once the job was done."

Momo stood motionless, frozen in fear. Ian- no, Lemmy Koopa's eyes were red and ablaze with hunger. He licked his lips as he approached his prey, so intensely focused on his next meal that he failed to notice the giant icy spear hurting through the air and finding its mark on his chest.

"I knew it!" Mist said. She conjured another spear and threw it, but Lemmy jumped to the side. "Boota was saying he was a bit shifty the other day, and I knew he was right!"

"He said the same to me," Momo said. "But…"

"Listen, Momo. He'll die once the sun comes up, so if we can stay alive for that long, we'll be fine." Mist had completely changed; Momo had pegged her as shallow and somewhat dim, but now, she was nothing but completely confident and authoritarian. "Here's the plan, we'll-"

Mist's plan was interrupted by a blade slicing through her neck, neatly severing her head from her body. Lemmy appeared behind her, retracting the blade back into his arm, and greedily drank the blood from her body. Momo screamed as he looked up at her and grinned, displaying his endless rows of jagged teeth.

"Ah, my old body… I had a wizard turn me into a standard Koopa to better blend in, but I forgot how I missed the strength and speed of my original self." Lemmy easily lifted Mist's body and threw it several hundred meters away. "Now, I've got one little snack left… Should I eat it now, or save it for later? Hmm…"

Momo ran away as fast as she could, hoping that she could find somewhere to hide until sunrise. Lemmy's grin widened as he leapt into the air, easily catching up with Momo and landing right in front of her. She caught him off guard with her telekinesis, letting her throw him to the side, but he grabbed her foot mid-fall and they rolled several times together.

There had to be some way to escape this. She'd already escaped death once today; surely her luck would let her survive again. Momo felt Lemmy's hand dig into her foot, and she cried out in pain as she felt him pierce her skin and drain her blood through his fingers. Something, anything… Momo looked around for a weapon, something to fend him off, then looked up - and saw a mustachioed face.

The statue of the Brothers, Mario and Luigi, had stood at this site since the castle had been destroyed. Several people over the years had tried to move it from its spot, but some invisible force kept it firmly rooted to the ground, even preventing them from digging up the earth beneath it. Momo's grand-Gooma had traveled with Mario once long ago, even helping him stop an ancient demon from being revived; indeed, it was this story that had inspired Momo to travel around the Rogue Isles, looking at the sites that they had traveled to, and subsequently awakening her passion for history and archaeology. The Brothers had done a lot of good things besides that, but they had tragically fallen in the battle against the Koopa Troop a century ago.

But maybe… maybe whatever force that kept this statue here was listening. Maybe it could help her.

"Please…" Momo muttered. "Please… help me…"

Suddenly, Momo felt some form of energy fill her body. Lemmy hissed and took several steps back, his hand blackened and smoking from something. Momo instinctively understood that something had given her the power necessary to defeat him. She gathered her telekinetic force and imbued it with some of the energy coursing through her body, and it lashed out as a bolt of golden lightning that struck Lemmy's head and disintegrated half of his face.

As Lemmy screamed in pain, Momo remembered something. She ran back to the men's tent and began furiously digging around, eventually finding the blue brooch she had found earlier. It had hurt the Dry Bones before; maybe it would hurt the undead Lemmy now? Lemmy tore through the tent and tackled Momo, nearly knocking the brooch out of her grip, but with one last act she channeled more of her energy into the stone, firing a shotgun-like blast that destroyed most of Lemmy's midsection.

"But… my youth…" Lemmy muttered as his body disintegrated into ash. Momo, panting, bleeding and crying, blacked out on the spot.

Momo came to several hours later, just as the sun was rising above the mountains surrounding the Dark Lands. She immediately made sure that Lemmy was gone for good, and indeed, the pile of ash was just as inert as before. Just to make sure, she spread the ash around the campsite underneath the sun. She then dug out several graves and buried the bodies of her fallen comrades. Even if she hadn't particularly liked them, they at least deserved a proper resting place.

After that was done, she retreated back to the campsite, and set out to gather as much food, water and materials as she could carry. Making it through the Dark Lands on foot by herself was a daunting task for anyone, much less someone that'd just fought a vampire the night before. Her body ached all over, though as far as she could tell, she had fortunately avoided any serious injuries. She chalked it up to whatever form of energy she'd used to defeat Lemmy – she vaguely recalled some type of magic that could heal injuries and seriously harm undead, so perhaps she'd somehow tapped into that.

Or maybe it had been the Brothers statue. As she finished packing up, she walked back over to the statue, bowed her head, and whispered "Thank you" to it. Whether it had been an intervention from beyond the grave, or something that had awakened in her in a time of desperation, it had been Mario that had given her the ability to use it, and for that, she would be eternally grateful.

And so, with one last look at the campsite, she left it, the castle, and all those bad memories behind. She knew she would make it back home, and even though if she was imprisoned on suspicion of killing everyone else, it would at least beat this hellhole. But she was sure it would all work out in the end.

And with a heavy but optimistic heart, Momo set out to the south, where a path led from the Dark Lands to the outer Mushroom Kingdom. She was so focused on the journey ahead that she didn't even notice the group of insectoid aliens that had appeared before her until it was too late. She turned around to investigate an odd clicking sound, but one of the aliens raised its pincer-like hand and fired a beam of plasma between her eyes, killing her instantly.

The other aliens raised their own arms, as to congratulate the killer. They checked out the area to make sure there were no further hostiles, but found nothing; one of the aliens, however, noticed the odd statue of two men looming ominously before them. It tried to push the statue over, but it wouldn't even budge; then as it raised its blaster arm in frustration, the statue crumbled, and a human woman with blonde hair stepped out from the debris…


	11. Battle Tendency, Part 2

Today was the ninety-fifth anniversary of the Mushroom Kingdom's re-formation. On that day, 95 years ago, the tyrant Demon King Bowser had led an army of vicious undead against them, attacking with such force that the kingdom's capital, Toad Town, had been utterly destroyed, and much of the kingdom's other major population centers had been heavily damaged as well. Thankfully, they were saved by the monarch at the time, now known as the Great Princess Peach, who used her immense power to single-handedly defeat the entire Koopa Troop, bringing peace back to the world. She had led the reconstruction effort for many years after, and had declared the day of Mushroom Castle's re-opening to be "New Mushroom Kingdom Day", the birthday of the new and hopefully longer-lasting kingdom.

Since then, the kingdom had been fully rebuilt, thanks to the many years of effort from skilled tradespeople and architects the world over. In addition, the kingdom had brought in a number of experts from many different fields, and their findings and developments had led to a renaissance in science, technology, magic and dozens of other areas. New Toad Town had grown into a bustling metropolis, one of the largest and most advanced in the entire world, but the old Mushroom Kingdom still stood in the middle of it all, a monument both to the old ways and to the dark times they'd finally overcome.

As part of their growth, the Mushroom Kingdom had become a kingdom in name only, as no monarch, hereditary or otherwise, had stood as the head of government since Princess Peach had left for parts unknown. The government had become closer to a republic, with the Chancellor and the Mushroom Court elected every five years by the populace to run the country in their name. There had been calls to revise the constitution and officially change the name of the country to the Mushroom Republic, but as with all things, the Court was largely conservative and refused such a drastic change, especially considering that the Princess was still technically alive and in power – she just wasn't present on the Mushroom World, at least according to the government's official policy.

It was on this otherwise normal day that Haute T., employed by New Toad Town as a peace officer, handed in his two weeks' notice to his boss.

"So that's it, huh?" the police chief, an old Koopa woman, said. "You're one of our best, Haute, and nowhere near retirement age. What's the deal?"

"I'm not retiring," Haute said. He was middle-aged, with a voluminous mustache and a body that was still in decent shape, though it had clearly seen better days. His face was stern and intense, honed over the years to terrify punks and thugs with a single glance. "I'm changing careers. I've already got one kid, there's another on the way, and I don't want to miss them growing up. My cousin's hooking me up with a daytime security guard job."

The chief snorted. "What a trite excuse. Next you're gonna tell me that you're deathly ill and the inheritor of a vast fortune from a wealthy relative in Nimbus Land."

"Will you let me go?"

"Yeah, I guess. But you're gonna be pissing off most of the department with this, so don't expect us to throw you a party or anything."

Haute turned away from the chief and left her office without another word. At this point, he could care less about the department's reaction to the news; most of them were either crooked or incompetent, and the ones that weren't would congratulate him for getting out before he got himself killed. They'd probably try to make his life a living hell, but he'd dealt with quite a bit in the twenty years he'd been on the force, and he could put up with it for two more weeks.

If he'd had the choice, he'd have given his letter of resignation to the chief after his shift was done, but he was working the evening shift and she was often gone before he started. And he didn't trust anyone else with the letter of resignation – he'd seen plenty of the administrative staff 'lose' or 'misplace' other officers' resignations, which screwed said officers over in the long run when they simply just left. In fact, that would probably happen to him too. But he didn't care at this point. He had plenty of cash stored away and steady work once he left, so he'd be fine without a last paycheck or a pension or anything like that.

But as it was, he still had a job to do, and he'd give it his all until the last minute of the last day. He headed to the locker room and got dressed for the job.

"So you did it, huh?" a Goomba man said as Haute put on his uniform. His name was Cordie, and he was one of the aforementioned non-crooked competent folks on the force. The two of them weren't exactly friends, but they'd got to know each other over the years.

"Yeah," Haute said. It was Cordie who'd talked him into giving the chief the letter in the first place; he was planning on just walking, everything else be damned. "How can you tell?"

"I can tell from your face. I'd say you're almost smiling, but I know you better than that."

"I don't smile," Haute said, but he couldn't help but grin as he said it. "Twenty coins says they'll forget where they put the letter, and I'll get screwed out of my pension."

"I ain't taking that bet." Cordie had less to his uniform, and as such finished getting dressed much quicker than his buddy. "Besides, you'll need to be a bit more frugal now that you're not bringing in the big bucks."

"I've got some stored away, and the security job doesn't pay that much less than this. Plus it's better hours." Haute slipped on his belt and hat. "I'd take half as much if it meant I can get outta here and still provide for Minh."

Cordie laughed as they walked out of the locker room. They swung by the armory to pick up their peacekeeping equipment, then hit the streets.

New Toad Town was relatively peaceful, as least compared to some of the other major cities in the Mushroom World – it wasn't even as bad as some of the other cities in the Kingdom – but there was still pretty much always some troublemaker making trouble somewhere. Most of them were small-time cutpurses or vandals, mostly easily dealt with (except when they were Boos), and the heavy-hitters with access to magic or technology were dealt with by the New Toad Town Special Crimes unit, pretty much sanctioned superheroes with special abilities of their own. Haute had worked with a few of them before, and they were largely more idealistic (or at least less corrupt) than the plainclothes peace officers, but they mostly worked in different areas.

"Man I'm hungry. Wanna get something to eat?" Cordie asked as they passed a hole-in-the-wall diner on Tanuki Street.

"Not on the job."

"Come on man, you're quitting in two weeks! Live a little!"

Haute considered saying yes, but his train of thought was interrupted as he noticed a Buzzy Beetle running toward them, screaming about monsters of some sort.

"Please calm down, sir," Cordie said. "Is something wrong?"

But the Buzzy Beetle ran right past them. Cordie went to chase him, but Haute's shout of "By the Star Road, what is THAT?" turned him right back around.

Sure enough, there was a group of five insect-like creatures casually walking down Tanuki Street, firing beams of energy indiscriminately. They were dark purple and roughly humanoid, save for their pincer-like forearms and somewhat hunched-over stance. They were all wearing dull metal armor and masks that partially hid their faces, and they appeared to be completely identical.

Haute reached for his sonic dissuasion fork, nicknamed the 'loudmouth' by the force, and fired a concentrated wave of sound at the creature in front. The lead creature raised its arm and created a semitransparent barrier in front, but the sound wave passed right through, and it fell to the ground, clutching the part of its head where ears would conceivably be. The loudmouths were designed to work even against targets with shielding spells or equivalents, since most barriers of that type didn't block sound. They were only good for three shots in a row, though they did recharge over time.

This drew aggro from the other creatures, which immediately turned their pincers on Haute and opened fire. He rolled into an alley, but one of the blasts hit him in the foot, throwing off his balance. Pain shot up his leg and all through his body, except for, oddly enough, the part of his foot that'd actually been hit – but he realized that, as he looked as the wound, that he didn't feel any pain from his foot because it was completely gone, boot and all. Some of the wound had been cauterized by the heat of the blast, but it was still bleeding profusely, and he didn't have time for medical attention.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared. Ignoring the pain, Haute reached into his belt, grabbed a syringe-like object, and thrust it hard into his leg. The pain eased up and his foot stopped bleeding, though it unfortunately wouldn't regrow the foot, and he'd have to keep the syringe in to keep its effects, meaning that he wouldn't be moving anywhere fast.

"Haute!" Cordie ducked into the alley. "By the Stars, what happened to your foot?"

"I'm a bit hurt," Haute said nonchalantly. He'd had worse on the job. "What about those creatures?"

But he was answered by two of the creatures turning the corner, their pincer arms at the ready. Both Haute and Cordie let loose their loudmouths, stunning the creatures and throwing off their aim just enough for another blast to barely singe Cordie's head.

"I'd call that murderous intent," Cordie said. "What do you think?"

"Yeah." Haute and Cordie grabbed their sidearms and pointed them at the creatures. "You are under arrest. Drop your weapons and submit, or we will be forced to shoot."

One of the creatures hissed and raised its arm at Haute, preparing another energy blast. In a split-second, Haute made his choice: he pulled the trigger and put a bullet right through the creature's head, killing it instantly. Cordie did the same to the other creature.

"What are these things?" Cordie wondered. "They definitely don't look like anything I've ever seen."

"Yeah. Watch, it'll turn out that these are foreign diplomats or something."

"It doesn't matter if they're diplomats. They tried to kill us, and I don't think any country on the Mushroom World allows that."

Haute looked at his leg. "I'm not going to be able to move much. Can you call an ambulance?"

"Sure, just give me a sec." Cordie stepped over the dead creatures' body and back onto Tanuki Street, where he was instantly vaporized by the three creatures remaining. Haute cursed and aimed his gun at them, unloading the rest of his clip into them. Two fell to the ground, bleeding silver-black blood from their wounds, but the third raised his barrier in time and blocked his last shot.

Haute rolled to the side again, dislodging the syringe in his leg and causing his leg to explode in pain. He fired his loudmouth at the remaining creature, but the shot went wild, and the creature would have dodged it anyways. And that was the last shot of his loudmouth, and it wouldn't recharge for at least a few hours, so he threw it away.

The creature hissed again and aimed its pincer-arm at him. Haute had no more tricks left. He was going to die two weeks away from quitting. That figured. He almost suspected the chief of hiring them to off him specifically, but even she wouldn't do something like that. Would she?

Haute closed his eyes. It looked like his death would be painless, at least. He held his breath…

…but nothing came.

He cautiously opened his eyes, only to see that the creature was entirely gone. In its place stood a woman with blonde hair, exceptionally tall even by human standards, and with quite a bit of muscle as well. She was wearing a plain pink dress, elbow-length white gloves and a blue brooch set in gold on her upper chest. Her face was pale and her eyes bright blue, filled with both kindness and a sense of purpose. She seemed vaguely familiar, but Haute couldn't place where he'd seen her before.

The woman walked over to Haute and placed her hands on his head. A veil of sparkling blue energy fell over his eyes, soothing the pain that wracked his body.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked. Her voice was gentle, almost maternal in a sense, but Haute felt an edge of anger behind it.

"Much better now," Haute said. He looked down to see that his foot had been regrown by the woman's healing spell. "Thank you, but… who are you?"

But he realized as he said it exactly where he'd seen her before. The fountain in the Mushroom Castle courtyard had an enormous stone statue of her, constructed shortly after she had left the kingdom for parts unknown. She was not currently wearing a crown, as the statue had, but otherwise she was an exact likeness.

"Peach…" Haute muttered. "The Great Princess Peach!"

"Great?" Peach seemed bemused by the epithet. "Please, just call me Peach. In any case, do you know what happened here?"

"Yeah, some sort of alien creatures attacked," Haute said, pointing at the corpses of the fallen insectoid creatures on the ground. "They attacked, and they… they killed my partner."

Peach scowled. "Don't worry, I'll deal with them. You should head back home if possible."

"Can't. I'm a peace officer, so it's my job to stop these things." Haute got to his feet. "In fact, I'm the one who should be asking you to head back home. Do you need an escort?"

"Thank you, sir, but I am quite capable of looking after myself." Peach grabbed his hand. "But I'm afraid that these creatures are attacking all over New Toad Town, and the peace officers are having a bit of difficulty holding them back. I believe it would be best for us to find another group of officers and reinforce them."

"Yeah, but how are we-" Haute's question was replaced by screaming as both him and Peach shot into the air, ending up at least a couple hundred meters above the city in an instant. Sure enough, thousands of those insectoid creatures were flooding into the town from every direction, with only blockades of peace officers and concerned citizens holding them back. But Haute knew that New Toad Town was hardly prepared for an invasion, and even if the Royal Army deployed in the next hour, it might still be too late.

Peach locked on to a nearby group of officers and flew toward them, again traveling the span of several blocks in two seconds or so. About a dozen officers stood their ground, holding back over a hundred of the creatures, but they were quickly growing tired…

"Stand back, please." Peach walked forward, and with a wave of her hand, she raised all of the hundred-odd creatures into the air. She waved her other hand, and each and every one of them exploded into chunky bits, splattering the buildings, roads and people below in chunks of exoskeleton and silver-black blood.

"By the Stars…" one of the officers said. "You're the Great Princess, aren't you? You've come back to save us!"

"Please, just call me Peach," she said. She raised her arms again and bathed the area in blue light, her Group Hug spell restoring all of the officers back to full health. "There's another group of officers about four blocks north and one west. Please go and help them."

"Princess, you should head back to the castle!" another officer said.

"Nonsense. This is my kingdom, and you are my people. It is my duty to protect all of you." Peach bowed her head. "After I have split up, please follow me and provide aid as best you can."

Before they could ask what she meant by 'splitting up', Peach's body dissolved into a floating, spherical mass of flesh-coloured gelatin. The officers stepped back as the mass split into fourteen equal parts, each of which re-formed into small humanoid figures resembling the Princess, or to be more accurate, how she might have looked as an infant. Her blond hair was short, her head and eyes disproportionately large compared to her body, and she wore (pink, of course) baby clothes; she even had a pink pacifier in her mouth. The fourteen baby Peaches were identical to each other, save for one, who wore the blue brooch on her body.

The lead Peach, or at least the one wearing the brooch, removed her pacifier. "Despite my current shape, please do not be concerned with my well-being. I assure you that these bodies are extremely difficult to harm by conventional means." Her voice was higher-pitched and somewhat squeaky, but she had lost none of the commanding authority of her adult self. Thirteen of the Peaches flew off in different directions, presumably to aid other sections of the city, while the lead Peach hovered slightly off the ground and headed north, pursued by the peace officers.

"Hey," one of the peace officers said to Haute, "this is just a really weird dream, right?"

"I doubt it," Haute said. "Dreams aren't nearly this strange."

They followed the floating infant Peach (which, Haute realized, was a thing that he had thought) north, where they met up with a group of officers and citizens fighting off more of the insect creatures. Haute and the others reloaded and continued firing into the horde, quickly whittling down their numbers, while Peach supported them with healing spells and barriers. Despite their fearsome appearance, the creatures went down quickly, and with the help of the cavalry, they managed to defeat every last one.

"Whoa, what's with the floating baby, man?" a Dayzee civilian asked. "Am I tripping out or something?"

"No, I'm quite real," Peach said. "There is a large group of people to the north. They are not being attacked at the moment, but I believe it would be best to go and reinforce their position."

"Hey, we ain't taking orders from some weird floating baby!" one of the officers said.

"Quiet, you fool! This is none other than the Great Princess Peach!"

Peach frowned again as the assorted folks looked at her. "I must go and assist another part of the town. Please do not hesitate to call me."

As she flew off, Haute took command and led the group north. It was going to be a looooong night.


	12. Battle Tendency, Part 3

Princess Peach was feeling just a bit overwhelmed. Her consciousness, split up amongst fourteen different bodies, was not only dealing with conflicting sensory input from each one, but she was also casting several supporting spells simultaneously using her bodies as foci, as well as trying to coordinate the city's peace officers on top of that. She'd had a little bit of experience with remotely controlling different bodies, but this was far beyond something she'd ever expected to do.

During the battle a hundred years ago, Peach had become what her adversary at the time called "the Ultimate Life Form". While its ultimate-ness was debatable, she had been given incredible power by a combination of a Stone Mask usually used to create vampires and her heirloom brooch, which just so happened to be an energy-amplifying stone known as an Aja. As a result, she'd become immortal and unkillable by mortal means, and gained nearly complete control over her body: she could shapeshift into anything organic at will, could add or remove extra appendages, or (as demonstrated by this battle) split herself up into multiple bodies and control them all remotely. She was limited only by the total amount of mass she controlled, hence why her bodies were infant-sized and –shaped.

But some part of Peach realized that sending a bunch of baby versions of herself all over New Toad Town to protect it from the insect-like invaders was far from the most efficient course of action. Indeed, she probably wielded enough power by herself to kill every last one of those creatures in a single blow – but an attack of that magnitude would be indiscriminate, and would likely kill many of the town's citizens and cause even more property damage. But even then, she could have shifted into animals, perhaps a rodent or bird of some sort, to add a few extra bodies; or she could go even simpler and just send out indistinct blobs of goo, since they would pretty much serve the same purpose. But…

In order to defeat her adversary, who also called himself an Ultimate Life Form, she'd had to reduce him to his individual cells and consume them with her own. But in the process of doing so, she'd absorbed some of his memories as well: not his entire life, mind, but flashes of trusted figures and strong emotions, as well as a couple of his abilities. She'd also found out some of the things he'd done, even before gaining ultimate power… and it'd all stemmed from a desire to walk in the sun. He'd done everything, millennia of atrocities, scheming and who knows what else, all for a well-intentioned motive that had long since decayed into a moral justification for everything he did.

And she had all the time in the world to slide right down that same slope.

Peach's main body, or at least the one wearing the brooch, was floating far above the city, using her enhanced vision to keep an eye on the battle from a larger scale. The invading creatures had been thinned out quite a bit, but there were still at least several hundred still present within the city, and more coming in every minute by some sort of teleportation ability. Though it was hard to tell exactly how many reinforcements they had, it seemed to her that the rate at which they were teleporting in had decreased quite a bit, suggesting that they were running out. Which was a good thing, since the bullets and morale of the various peace officers and battle-worthy civilians was quickly running out as well.

A large group of creatures, nearly two hundred in total, appeared in Mushroom Castle's courtyard. They immediately went to assaulting the castle walls, but the soldiers on duty proved to be more competent than the ones in her time; by the time one of her bodies had reached the castle, about half of them had been killed.

"How many more of these things are there!?" the captain of the guard shouted as he took out two creatures in a single hit.

"This might be one final push," Peach said, floating over to the captain to replenish his ammo. Though she couldn't create any metal objects with her shifting powers, she could conjure up extra clips with magic. The ammo wouldn't last for very long – no more than an hour or two, at the most – but they would use them up long before that became an issue. "They've lost several thousand soldiers already, so they must be running low."

"No kidding. We've killed about a thousand just by ourselves," the captain said. "How's the rest of the city faring?"

"They've inflicted quite a bit of property damage. And… their weapons make it difficult to tell how many citizens they've killed," Peach said. "But I've saved everyone I can. And the peace officers are doing an excellent job of holding them off."

"Good to hear. We owe you quite a bit, Princess." The captain wiped sweat from his brow as he reloaded his rifle. "But what the heck are these things? And where are they coming from?"

"Man down!" another soldier shouted. Peach zipped over to see a Toad soldier lying on the ground, breathing heavily, with his right arm and a part of his torso gone. She pressed her stubby arms on his chest and chanted her Therapy spell, surrounding him in blue light that quickly regenerated his bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and finally his skin.

A healing spell capable of regenerating lost limbs would have been exhausting for most mages capable of such a thing, but for Peach, it was barely even a concern. Her FP pool was not quite infinite, but it was very deep indeed and regenerated quite quickly. She hadn't even come close to running out, even with each of her bodies drawing from the same pool and near-constantly casting high-powered spells like that. Her spells tended to be a bit sloppier and use more FP than an aforementioned comparable mage, but she'd been taking steps to refine her techniques, and it'd definitely paid off – without her practicing, she'd have run out of resources long ago.

The Toad soldier looked at his arm in disbelief. "You… you healed me? Wait, this isn't just a dream or a blood-loss-fueled hallucination or something, right?"

Peach smiled. "Trust me: real dreams aren't nearly as strange as this." She zipped back to the castle's battlements to watch the fight, but the soldiers had it more than under control. So she created about fifty extra ammo clips for the captain to hand out, after which she resumed control of her main body.

The creatures were nearly gone now. Only a few hundred or so remained, and they were outnumbered by everyone fighting to defend their home. Peach moved her bodies around to provide aid to the groups still fighting, casting Group Hug spells and creating extra ammo clips for them, but it seemed that the main battle was over.

It had been a difficult fight, but despite the creatures' odd appearances and powerful weapons, they had gone down relatively quickly. This only suggested that these things were mere peons, commanded and controlled by afar by something more powerful. And if they were truly dedicated to taking New Toad Town, then that person or people would soon appear. Peach kept her eye out for any bosses of some kind, but the only things that were coming in were more creatures, and they were barely trickling in now.

And then a giant set of jaws clamped down on her.

Peach was momentarily stunned by the attack, but she quickly regained her concentration and took her bearings. It was completely dark inside, but a conjured ball of dazzling light showed rows upon rows of jagged metal teeth. This… thing's tongue was metal as well, and covered in hundreds of tiny barbs; her tiny body had fallen on some of them, but she quickly flew up and regenerated the damage. The tongue thrashed around, trying to maneuver her into its gnashing teeth, but Peach fired two waves of magical force from her hands, one pointed up and one pointed down, opening the monster's mouth long enough for her to escape.

The monster appeared to be some sort of dragon. It was thin and wiry, with wicked claws on both its hands and feet and a long tail with a spear-like tip. Dark metal plating covered nearly every square inch of its body, adding to its bulk, but there were patches of its original dark purple skin visible in between plates. Its eyes were yellow, glowing and seemingly cybernetic, and it had orange glowing force-fields in between each finger of its wings.

The dragon turned back to face Peach, hovering in midair by using both its wings and small jets of flame on the bottoms of its feet. It opened its mouth again, and to Peach's surprise, spoke to her in perfect English. "Hmm? It seems a tasty morsel fell out of my mouth…"

"I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom!" Peach announced, amplifying her voice with magic. "If you are in command of the creatures attacking this city, then I order you to command them to retreat! Cease your attack now, or I will show no mercy!"

The dragon laughed. "Oh, and what a feisty morsel this one is! You think you have the authority to order me around, little one? I have killed creatures a hundred times larger and more powerful than you will ever be!"

Peach raised her palm upwards and conjured a giant ball of flame. "I have power in abundance, dragon. Now tell me your name and intentions."

"How foolish! I need not tell my name to food." The dragon opened small metal doors on each of its wing joints and fired missiles from each of them. Peach split her giant fireball into dozens of smaller ones and sent them after each missile, blowing them up in midflight – but the smokescreen caused by the missiles' explosions blinded her from its true attack, a blast of ultra-hot red energy fired from its mouth. Peach raised a barrier in an attempt to block it, but the breath attack pierced right through her barrier and vaporized most of her body.

Of course, Peach managed to survive, as her consciousness simply hopped to another one of her bodies. She could blame that particular loss on a number of factors: she was still trying to coordinate the defense of New Toad Town with her other bodies, she'd underestimated the power of the dragon's breath, and her tiny body couldn't channel enough energy to create a barrier strong enough to block it. Either way, she'd lost once, but she wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Peach commanded two of her other bodies to fly to a spot north of the castle, where the remains of her first body had fallen. They all dissolved back into fleshy goo and merged together, re-forming into a body that looked like she had as an eight-year-old child. She was wearing a pink-and-white tee shirt, a pleated pink skirt, darker pink leggings and black shoes – the outfit was based on one she'd owned as a child, and in particular one she'd worn in one of the old photos they'd taken during her childhood. Brushing thoughts of her parents and family aside, Peach grabbed the fallen brooch (which had been unharmed by the breath attack), fastened it to her shirt, and readied herself for battle again.

The dragon was circling around the city, randomly firing missiles and its breath at the buildings below. Peach quickly caught up to it and threw another fireball barrage at its wings, but it noticed in time to throw up a barrier of its own, projected from glass-like spheres on the back of its hands. The barrier stopped most of the fireballs, but a few passed through and left slight scorch marks on his chest and arms.

"Oh, so you're back? And bigger this time!" the dragon said. "But still little more than an appetizer. Tell me, little one, do you still intend on fighting me?"

"I do," Peach said. "I didn't get a chance to properly fight you last time, so let me show you what I can really do."

Peach threw several dazzling balls in the dragon's face, detonating them in a burst of visible, infrared and ultraviolet light that temporarily blinded it. She followed it up by flying right at the dragon and punching it in the chest, striking with enough force to dent the armour plating and expose some sort of yellow glowing thing below. Before she could strike it again, the dragon's tail lashed out and speared her through the gut.

"You… how dare you!" The dragon's tail whipped around, opening the wound in Peach's abdomen further and further. Two blades made of hardened bone sprouted from Peach's forearms; though appearing razor-sharp, the blades were coated in hundreds of tiny jagged teeth, which shifted back and forth along the edge of the blade like a chainsaw. The teeth were reflective as well, giving each blade an aura of cold prismatic light across its length.

Peach used the blades to effortlessly cut through the dragon's tail, cleanly severing nearly half of its length. The dragon screamed again as Peach pulled herself off of the severed part of the tail, then quickly healed the gaping wound with a Therapy spell. She then quickly retracted the blades back into her arms.

Those particular blades had been one of Kars' signature attacks, and she'd created them reflexively, without even really wanting to. But the thought quickly passed as the dragon swiped at her with its claws, which she only narrowly avoided.

"Hmm!" the dragon said. "I made a mistake in underestimating you, morsel. As such, I deem you worthy enough to hear my name before I kill you. And let me give you a warning, as well: the great Ridley always repays his debts in full, oh yes…"

The dragon, evidently named Ridley, opened his mouth and fired another breath attack. But Peach was prepared this time. She raised another barrier, this one etched with a number of glowing hexagonal patterns stacked within each other. Ridley's breath struck the barrier in the middle, but it held fast against the attack, its energy causing the hexagons to glow even brighter.

Ridley quickly stopped his attack when he noticed the glowing hexagons, but it was already too late. Peach fired the energy contained within the barrier right back at him, a blast which his own barrier was unable to contain. The heat of the blast badly damaged his armour plating, melting it right off in some places, and no doubt causing quite a bit of damage underneath… but despite that, Ridley still remained standing (or flying in this case).

"Are you satisfied now?" Peach asked. "I have no desire to kill you. Leave now, and call off your soldiers."

"Heh heh…" Ridley opened the missile pods in his wings again. "A miniscule attack like that is nothing. I've taken far worse and lived to tell the tale." He opened fire with missiles again, but he wasn't targeting Peach this time; instead, he fired several dozen missiles into the city below. Peach threw fireballs like mad to stop them before they hit, but this left her vulnerable to another blast of Ridley's breath. She knew that she would survive, and thus continued throwing fireballs until her body was too scorched to continue.

This time, when Peach jumped to another body, she took stock of the battle in the city below. The creatures were still trickling in, but the ground forces more than had it under control – thankfully so, since her battle against Ridley had required her full concentration, leaving her other bodies inert.

"What's going on with that dragon?" one of the peace officers asked. "You were fighting it, right?"

"Yes, I was," Peach said, "but it's quite powerful."

"Well, you said you've got multiple bodies running around, right? So why not bum-rush him with all of them at once?"

"But what about the battle-"

"Princess, that dragon's gonna do way more damage than these things," a Shy Guy officer said. "We've got them under control. Go kill that dragon for us."

"But-"

"But nothing! We can't fight it, so it's up to you!"

Peach nodded, said "Thank you," and flew off. She called her other eleven bodies together, and they all flew up to rejoin the fight against Ridley.

"Give it up, little morsels! You can't defeat me, and you know it!" Ridley said. He fired another missile salvo into the city, but this time, Peach's multiple bodies allowed her to counter the missiles more effectively. Ridley prepared another breath attack, but three Peaches working together created a hexagon barrier strong enough to hold it back. Ridley only barely dodged the reflected attack, losing his feet and some of his legs in the process, destabilizing his flight – and leaving him open for a counterattack of her own.

"Electric Light Overdrive!"

Another Peach body, this one fully-grown, flew behind Ridley and delivered a Ripple-fueled strike to the base of his spine. A vampire attack, and another attack by the same insectoid creatures that now swarmed New Toad Town, had awakened her and prompted her to come check out the castle, but she'd forgotten until just recently that her original body had been entombed below Mushroom Castle. As such, she'd used the smaller bodies as a distraction while she woke up the original.

As for the attack… During the vampire war a century ago, Peach had learned a little bit about 'the Ripple', a form of life energy generated en masse by special breathing techniques. She'd only had a week to train with it, so she'd only learned about its uses against vampires; but she'd trained with it on her own time during the rebuilding of the Mushroom Kingdom, and while doing so, she realized it could be used against living things as well.

This particular attack converted some amount of Ripple into electrical energy then delivered it into the nervous system of the target by a strike to the spine, temporarily screwing up their body control. Peach had developed it to incapacitate living targets without severely harming them, but as she'd learned, it was in fact quite deadly; she'd only used it once, but the target had gone into severe convulsions, resulting in quite a bit of injury and possibly brain damage as well. And that was with her using only a bare minimum of energy.

But Peach had no problems with using it against Ridley, a target who'd made it clear that he wouldn't stop attacking until he was dead. Just like last time, Ridley went into severe convulsions, his limbs (including his wings) flailing about uncontrollably; he immediately plummeted to the ground, but Peach and her other bodies managed to control his fall by using her flight spell on him, letting him land softly in a large baseball field to the castle's northwest.

Peach pressed her hand to Ridley's chest and casted a low-powered Therapy spell on him, stopping his seizures but not healing any of his injuries. Her other bodies gathered around the dragon and used another attack she'd developed:

"Black Hold Overdrive!" they shouted in unison, striking his arms, knees, wings and neck simultaneously. Black chains coursing with Ripple energy sprouted from their hands and flew around his body, restraining him quite thoroughly. The chains were partially magical, but the Ripple within them made them much stronger than normal metal and prevented them from being dissolved with standard dispel effects. Peach's main body stepped onto Ridley's chest, grabbed his lower mouth, and forced him to look at her.

"Talk," she said. "Why are you attacking New Toad Town?"

Ridley opened his mouth and prepared for another breath attack, but Peach raised her hexagon shield again. The light and heat at the back of his throat quickly faded.

"I was ordered to," he growled. "The Apex hired a contingent of Space Pirates to attack this world in their stead. They gave us money and technology in return."

"What's the Apex?" she asked.

Ridley spat a silver-black fluid on the ground, wilting a patch of grass. "Filthy traitors!" he said. "They knew that we would be slaughtered by your soldiers! They sent us here to eliminate us!"

"What. Is. The. Apex?" Peach asked again, punctuating her words with pauses.

"I don't know!" Ridley said. "We'd never heard of them before! They came to us asking for an alliance, but they sold us out!"

Peach's bodies created a few more Black Hold Overdrive chain links, adding some slack to the chains and releasing some of the pressure on Ridley's body. "Then perhaps we can make a deal," she said. "You call back your soldiers and promise never to attack the Mushroom World or any of its inhabitants ever again. In return, I'll let you go, and I'll take care of the Apex for you."

"You think too highly of yourself, morsel!" Ridley sneered. "You are like an ant compared to them! I have heard rumours of their escapades, and it terrifies even me! Fighting them is certain death!"

"I will take my chances," Peach said. "So will you agree to our deal, or not?"

"…Fine."

Peach cast another Therapy spell on the dragon, healing some (but not all) of the wounds she'd inflicted on him. "I don't know how much your word is worth, Ridley. But if you break it, I will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand?"

"All too well, morsel."

Peach released the chains. Ridley got up, spread his wings, and flew back up into the sky. Peach followed him a short distance, but just enough to see that his word was good: all of the "Space Pirates" were gone from New Toad Town.

Still… Space Pirates? Originality of the name notwithstanding, Peach had never known pirates to be an honourable bunch. Her ability to discern truth from lies, not a magical ability or anything but something she'd picked up from her time as a diplomat, didn't seem to work at all on cybernetic space dragons; either that, or he was simply a skilled liar himself. Either way, she didn't trust him.

Peach took a deep breath, filling her body with Ripple, and flew off after him. Since she was planning on going into space, she took some precautions, namely surrounding herself in a barrier that kept both air and heat within. She'd seen firsthand that her transformative abilities didn't protect her from the ravages of space, and even though she could fly via magic, she didn't want to end up like Kars had. She continued flying upward, and the sky eventually faded away completely, revealing a black void full of stars.

Ridley was still visible in the distance, heading toward something dark purple and metallic. Peach had seen relatively few of them in her life, but she was pretty sure that it was a spaceship of some kind. Ridley looked back and saw her, and fired a breath attack, but Peach had more than enough time to absorb it with her hexagon shield and fire it behind her, giving her the speed boost necessary for her to catch up with him.

Peach grabbed on to his tail and climbed toward his head, dodging his claw swipes all the way. She placed both hands on the base of his neck, used an Electric Light Overdrive with one hand, and used repelling Ripple with her other hand to stop the Overdrive's effects from reaching his brain.

"You've broken our deal," Peach said, making sure his ears were within her shield. "I doubted you would keep your word, but I didn't expect you to do it so quickly."

Ridley tried to say something, but as his mouth was outside of Peach's air bubble, she didn't hear it. She started to extend her bubble toward his mouth, but she was momentarily distracted by something glinting red on the base of the spaceship. She reflexively raised her hexagon shield as the ship's lasers hit them, but the shield was barely enough to absorb its energy; the heat radiating from it disintegrated her hands and reduced her forearms to blackened stumps. Ridley was not so lucky, as he was outside the range of her shield and thus nearly vaporized.

Peach fired the ship's laser back, but her lack of hands threw off her aim, and she missed the ship by quite a bit. The ship prepared another laser, but instead of raising the hexagon barrier again, she created a prismatic rectangular wall in front of her, which would reflect attacks without absorbing them first. The ship fired again, and Peach put all of the energy she could muster into the barrier; it managed to reflect most of the shot, but the rest went through, hurting Peach further. She struggled to retain consciousness, but it wasn't long before she gave in to the darkness and passed out.


	13. Battle Tendency, Part 4

Peach woke up in a bed.

She tried to get up, but she was unable to grasp the thick blanket around her with her hands. She thought back to why that might be, and remembered that her body had been hurt pretty badly by that ship's lasers. Had they survived and captured her? But the bed was quite comfortable. Unless they were the most generous pirates ever, it was unlikely that they'd give her such a nice prison.

She also remembered that her hands weren't working because they'd been burnt away by the laser. She drew biomass from the rest of her body and reformed one of her arms, making it good as new, but she was concerned at just how much mass she'd lost – and that she didn't quite remember how she'd lost it, either. Her prismatic barrier should have reflected the second laser, but it was possible that it hit her again after she blacked out… yet she was still alive, so the ship either failed to finish her off or...

She was interrupted by a chubby star-shaped being floating into the room. He was bright yellow and glowing softly, and had no features save for a pair of beady black eyes.

"Hi!" the star creature said despite lacking a mouth. It seemed harmless enough, though.

"Uh… hello," Peach said. "May I ask where I am?"

"You're on the Observatory!" it said. "Mama wants to talk to you! So you should go see her!"

Peach tried to get up, but it seemed that her feet and part of her legs had been burnt away as well. She was also naked underneath the covers. Ignoring a wave of déjà vu, she gathered her remaining biomass together and assumed a smaller human form, roughly adolescent in appearance. It wasn't exactly ideal for meeting this "Mama", but it'd have to do. She didn't have enough mass for clothing, so she wrapped the blanket around herself and stepped out of the bedroom.

Memories flooded back to her as she walked onto the main deck of the Comet Observatory. The main floor was deceptively low-tech, with features such as a grassy field, a brick building and an open-air rustic library all surrounding a baby star that served as the observatory's power source. A central spire extended nearly a hundred meters up relative to the ground, containing more buildings within. A number of islands floated around the central spire, connected to the main mass by invisible tethers.

The Mushroom World was visible in the sky above. Peach looked up at it, but at this distance, it was barely bigger than the moon would be from the planet's surface. Hopefully that ship hadn't damaged it too much. The star creature – Luma, they were called Lumas – waved her forward, and they walked toward a central screen.

Standing before the screen was a tall woman with an unearthly presence. Her hair was long and pale blond, nearly white, with a bang obscuring nearly half of her pale face. She wore a blue-green gown decorated with gemstones, including a silver brooch set with a magnificent white diamond, and a silver crown on her head. She was speaking to another Luma, this one black with blue eyes, but she waved it away and turned to Peach.

"Hello there," the woman said. Her voice seemed to echo across the entire observatory, and its strange quality matched the equally strange aura around her. Peach suspected that she had long since outgrown the need for a physical body, but that she had kept (or perhaps made) this to more easily interact with mortals. "Welcome to the Comet Observatory."

"Thank you for the welcome," Peach said. "It's been some time since we last met, Rosalina."

Rosalina seemed slightly taken aback at the mention of her name. "Have we met before? I do not recall."

"It was one hundred years ago. A being from my world named Bowser took me captive and attacked your observatory, stealing a number of Power Stars and disabling it. Two brothers named Mario and Luigi assisted you in gathering the stolen Stars, traveled to Bowser's stronghold, and rescued me and defeated Bowser. From there, you gave us a ride back to this world and departed."

"That… is not quite how I remember it." Rosalina stroked her chin. "But I believe it is my memory that is in error, not yours. It is a pleasure to meet you again, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"So you do remember me," Peach said. "But what do you mean?"

"I do not mean to insult your intelligence, but it is somewhat difficult to explain." Rosalina thought about it for a moment, and then said "Put simply, I can access the memories of versions of myself that live in different timelines. I thought that events in this timeline had happened a different way, but I was slightly confused. Please forgive me."

"No, it's no problem," Peach said. "But thank you for rescuing me. Were you attacked at all?"

"There was a ruined Space Pirate ship in orbit around the planet," Rosalina said. "It was completely inactive by the time we arrived. Was that your doing?"

Peach nodded, and gave Rosalina a rundown of the events that had happened – not just since she woke up, but ever since vampirism first arrived in the Mushroom World.

"…then I raised a barrier that reflected the ship's laser back at it," Peach said. "So the ship was destroyed by that?"

"Indeed," Rosalina said. "You've been through quite a bit since my last visit, it seems."

"But… even though you've helped me so much already, I…" Peach looked right into Rosalina's single eye. Her eye was blue-green, similar to her gown but darker, and seemed to twinkle with inner starlight. "Do you know anything about the Apex?"

Rosalina sighed. "I do. But… there are certain rules I must abide by. If I am to tell you what I know about the Apex, I must do so in exchange for something of equal value. Will you agree to this?"

"Of course," Peach said. She'd dealt with not-quite-mortal beings with odd codes of conduct before, and knew from past experience that breaking such a code could lead to severe repercussions, both politically and physically. "Please name your price."

"A favour." Rosalina waved her arm, and the floating screen behind them switched to a view of a massive metal structure floating in inky darkness. "Within this station is an artifact that was stolen from me some time ago. If you are able to retrieve it for me, then I will consider it equal to the information I have."

"I'll get it for you," Peach said. "But what should I expect to see within?"

"It is a former mining station, once used by a group of machines, but now populated by creatures of the night." Rosalina smirked. "Your particular talents should allow you to defeat them quite easily."

The two women walked over to one of the Observatory's observation domes. Rosalina muttered a few things to the black Luma from before, who went to work configuring a star-shaped object floating near the dome's ceiling.

"There's one other thing." Rosalina waved her magic wand and summoned up a pale cream-coloured Luma. "This Luma has agreed to help you for the duration of this mission. He'll protect your body from extreme environments and translate alien tongues for you."

The Luma's body shrank as it flew into Peach's hair. She immediately felt its power, certainly alien but also warm and inquisitive, course through her body.

"Thank you," Peach said. "Oh, I forgot to ask, what am I looking for here?"

Rosalina waved her wand again, creating a spectral image of a cylindrical glass tube. An odd green creature with four large mandibles floated within. "It's a rare creature known as a Metroid. It consumes life energy on touch, so be careful when transporting it."

"Mama, the Launch Star's ready." the black Luma said. "Locked on to Sandwide Mining Station on the planet Sandwide, south quadrant of the Dusty Dune Galaxy."

Rosalina nodded. "The Launch Star will send you to the station when you are ready."

"Oh, would you be able to send me back to the Mushroom World quickly? I have some unfinished business left there."

"Of course." Rosalina waved her wand a third time, warping Peach back to the baseball field in New Toad Town. Her other infant bodies were still there, inert and unmoving; she dissolved both them and her into biomass and merged together, recreating her adult, tall and muscled body with a classic pink dress. Against all odds, her heirloom blue brooch had survived her battles, so she put it back on. She was now ready.

The Luma's magic teleported both of them back to the Observatory. After a few more checks to account for Peach's increased mass, she jumped into the Launch Star.

"Preparing for launch in 3… 2…"

Peach braced herself.

"…1… Blast-off!"

The Launch Star shot Peach out at truly incredible speed, to the point that the entire Milky Way Galaxy became visible and vanished into intergalactic darkness in less than 10 seconds. Perhaps more amazing was that she barely felt any discomfort from the trip. Whether that was the Luma's power, or simply something built in to the Launch Stars was unknown to her; but such advanced technology or magic (or perhaps a mix of the two) was far beyond anything she'd ever seen back on her home.

But even with that level of development, there were still things more powerful than Rosalina out there. While she'd been largely inscrutable during their conversation, it was clear to Peach that something was preventing her from just casually speaking about the Apex. It could simply be a personal code of conduct, but Peach had the feeling that the code had been forced upon her against her will by some other entity or group. Perhaps the Apex itself?

Peach flew through the intergalactic space for about a full minute, occasionally getting glimpses of other distant galaxies here and there. Eventually, her destination, the Dusty Dune Galaxy, came into view, and Peach felt herself decelerate from truly incredible speed to merely relativistic levels as she entered the atmosphere of Planet Sandwide.

True to its name, Sandwide was a wide, barren expanse of sand with very few features. The planet itself was an enormous square in defiance of gravity, but the immense size of the square planet was enough to keep everything bound to its surface. It was somewhat far from its sun, and thus was covered in perpetual night, and both the lack of a stable surface and the limited atmosphere would ever prevent life from forming upon its surface.

Peach flew across the dark desert plain, still propelled by the Launch Star an eternity away, and eventually landed on the landing strip of a massive metal structure jutting out of the sand. The mining station was nearly two kilometers high, with a number of smaller metal islands floating around the main structure like the Observatory, but it had long since fallen into disrepair. Much of the station's outer surface was rusty or had rusted away, and some of the floating islands had fallen into the sand below; there were likely even more islands that had already sunk beneath the surface.

She had a lot of territory to cover, so she split off some of her biomass into two Baby Peaches and sent them to scout out the station's surface while she went within. To her surprise, the station was in relatively good shape within; the lights and heat were both still active, as was a holographic map system.

"Welcome to Sandwide Mining Station!" a cheery automated voice said as she walked by the holographic terminal. She was vaguely aware that the voice wasn't speaking English, but that the Luma's power was translating it on the fly. "If you are a visitor, please head to the Visitor Check-In Area in section F3. If you are reporting for work, please head to section A1. If you need assistance, please press the red button."

Sure enough, there was a red button next to the terminal. She pressed it and called up a directory, but none of the area names screamed "holding an energy-absorbing energy creature" at her. Fortunately, she had other means of detecting living creatures.

Peach took off her shoes and socks, and pressed her hands and bare feet against the bare metal corridor. She took a deep breath, and…

Nothing happened.

That was odd. Peach had practiced the special breathing technique required to generate Ripple so much that it was almost second nature, and her upgraded body allowed her to create incredible amounts of energy with just one breath. She took another deep breath, just to be sure, but nothing happened again. Was there something in the air that blocked her Ripple? Rosalina had mentioned "creatures of the night" within, so it was possible they'd taken precautions against Ripple-users.

"Luma," Peach said, speaking to the Luma within her. Her voice carried and echoed against the corridor's walls. "Luma, can you analyze the atmosphere here?"

The cream-coloured Luma peeked out from the top of her head. It tilted its body slightly downwards and shook left to right, which Peach took to mean "no". Rosalina had also mentioned that the Luma would protect her from extremes, so maybe that was interfering with her Ripple at some level. Peach wasn't worried about taking on undead – she had other ways of doing that – but she relied on Ripple to detect other presences, and she was a bit stuck without it.

Well, no matter. Peach put her shoes back on and headed to the nearest elevator. Her first guess for looking for the Metroid was in the foreman's quarters, since it was near the top of the facility and she'd read enough fairy tales to know that the princess was invariably in the highest tower of the castle. Plus, it'd be better furnished than the crew's quarters, and if these undead creatures were intelligent enough to put a Ripple-blocker in the air, they'd appreciate the extra luxury.

The elevators were still operational, as well, and indeed the lack of grime on the elevator doors and walls suggested that something had been consciously maintaining it. Peach punched in the coordinates for the second-highest floor, the crew quarters, and waited inside as the elevator shot upwards. There was even cheesy muzak piped through speakers for her listening pleasure. Just for curiosity's sake, Peach tried another Ripple-generating breath, but still nothing doing.

The elevator chimed as the doors opened. Peach stepped into the crew quarters, looking something like an extremely cheap hotel; the walls and ceiling were bare metal and lit with industrial fluorescent lamps, the floor was covered by a worn brown rug, and doors with numbers seemed to be placed exactly ten meters away from each other. It was certainly efficient, though she couldn't imagine staying in one of these suites for a prolonged period of time.

Peach's musings were interrupted by an ear-splitting scream. She raised her guard and ran down the identical boring corridors, but something jumped on her back at an intersection and sunk its fangs into her shoulder. She immediately responded by pumping Ripple into the attacker, but it didn't work, of course. A strong, pale hand clamped around her neck and started to squeeze, trying to squeeze the life out of her.

But just as she figured, the Luma kept her from feeling the effects of asphyxiation, and her enhanced body kept her from feeling much pain from the bite. Still, it was sucking blood out of her body, which was quite annoying. Peach grabbed the pale hand and cast a low-powered Therapy spell, instantly disintegrating it into dust; the assailant recoiled back, hissing at her.

Peach turned to see her attacker. It was humanoid, but with disproportionately long arms and legs. Its skin was pale, its eyes red and its hair dark and wiry, and two large blood-stained fangs protruded from its red lips. It was dressed in a rugged one-piece uniform, likely a leftover from the station's mining days. Since it was using its fangs to suck her blood, not its hand, she figured it wasn't a vampire created by the Stone Mask; Koojo had mentioned that there were different types of vampires out there, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

But even without Ripple, Peach still wasn't worried. Her Therapy spell had disintegrated its hand and part of its arm, so that was at the least effective; still, the vampire was retreating from her with surprising speed, and even though she could easily catch up to it, she had another idea.

Part of the Ultimate Life Form package was the ability to totally control one's own body down to the cellular level. As shown by her use of multiple bodies, she seemed to maintain a psychic connection with each part of her body, so long as she wasn't too far away. This seemed to extend down to individual blood cells diluted in the bloodstream of another, as she found out when she felt the presence of her cells within the retreating vampire's body. She used them as a focus for another Therapy spell, and though each cell was only able to channel a small amount of energy, it was enough to create several gaping holes all across the vampire.

It collapsed to the ground, writing in agony. Peach casually walked over to it and looked it in the face. There was nothing resembling reason or comprehension in its eyes; if it had been intelligent at one time, it had long since devolved into a mindless animal, focused only on slaking its bloodlust. Even if she could reverse its transformation, it was already too far gone.

Peach placed her hands on the creature's chest and cast another Therapy spell, reducing its entire body to dust.

Her mentor, a man named Koojo, had told her that vampires were not friends who had turned into monsters; rather, they were monsters wearing the skin of a friend. In most cases, the transformation might preserve a few memories or motivations, but any sense of morality or empathy faded with their life. Of course, Peach had met Stone Mask vampires with some sense of morality, with one of them even allowing her to reverse his transformation, so that was not true in all senses. But Peach had realized why he'd told her that: it was a coping mechanism, making it easier for her to deal with the fact that she was killing her former friends and subjects.

The same man had also told her that she should never forget her sense of compassion, as it was the only thing separating her from the monsters. It would be easier for her to turn into a fanatic, killing vampires merely on principle, but now, looking at the dust-filled uniform before her, she realized she wasn't capable of that. She didn't know the circumstances of the vampire's turn. It might have taken up the curse willingly for greater power, but perhaps it had done it to save something or someone else. Perhaps it had been turned against its will by another vampire. And perhaps… it had fled here to protect others from itself, knowing that its willpower would erode over the long years and leave it a mindless, feral monster.

That same fate could lie in her future as well.

Peach heard another scream. She kept running down the corridors, and as she neared a corner, the corpse of a bat-like humanoid creature slammed against the wall and collapsed. Peach recognized the wounds on its arms as being caused by Ripple, and she also noticed that the creature's stomach had been slashed open, spilling the blood within all over its legs and the floor.

As she prepared a Therapy spell, a human appeared in view and delivered a two-fingered strike to the creature's head, vaporizing it instantly. The man was middle-aged, nearly as tall as she was and quite a bit more muscular. He wore a dark blue uniform-like overcoat, with a golden chain attached to one side of the collar, and similarly-coloured pants and shirt. His hat was damaged, but seemingly artfully so, with several symbols over the brim, and its black colour blended seamlessly into his hair, making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began in the low lighting. He wore a semitransparent mask over his nose and mouth, connected by a hose to a metal tank on his back, and his eyes were obscured by dark sunglasses.

There was something familiar about him. Peach couldn't quite place it, but there was something about his presence, crackling with the invisible electricity signifying a Ripple-user, that reminded her of someone she'd met long ago. "Excuse me," Peach said. "I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. May I ask your name, sir?"

The man looked at her, inscrutable behind his mask and glasses. "I don't give my name to vampires," he said, his voice muffled slightly. He took a deep breath, and the energy around him intensified. He was definitely generating Ripple, but there was something else around him as well, something she didn't recognize.

"Wait, I'm not a-" Peach was interrupted by a blow to her face, taking her off guard but doing little damage. The man shouted and charged, and though Peach tried to slip into a defensive stance, he crossed the distance between them in a split second and struck her with a flurry of punches and kicks, shouting something while doing so.

He was using Ripple for sure, but something else was giving him speed and strength far beyond what his body naturally possessed. Enhancing physical strength and speed could be done by a number of sources, but it seemed to Peach that it was magical in some way, though quite a bit different than Mushroom Kingdom wizardry. Her own enhanced reflexes kicked in, slowing the man's lightning-quick blows enough for her to get a hit of her own in, a stunning attack to the man's chest that sent him flying back into the wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Peach ran over to the man and used her prepared Therapy spell on him. He wasn't seriously injured, but she meant it more as a gesture of peace. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you, sir."

The man got back up, adjusting his coat and hat as he did. "My Ripple had absolutely no effect, so you're probably not a vampire," he said. "But you're way too tough for your size. What are you?"

"I'm Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom," she repeated. "I mean you no harm. I'm just looking for a creature held here in exchange for information."

The man looked her over. Peach did the same, and noticed something she hadn't seen before: a strip of red-and-white triangle-patterned cloth wrapped around the man's neck. It had been tucked under his shirt's collar, but some of it had been dislodged by her attack.

She'd seen that before. Suddenly, everything clicked into place.

"…Koojo?!" Peach said. "But… you…"

"I make it a point not to tell my name to my enemies." The man raised his fists, summoning both more Ripple and the mysterious other power he'd used before. "Which means that you're either a friend I don't remember… or you've been sent here to eliminate me."

"I guess I do look different than before," Peach said. Her clothes shifted, changing from her classic pink dress into a pink martial-arts uniform with a leather belt. "But you were different as well. You don't remember being a Koopa? You don't remember teaching me about the Ripple, stealing an Airship, going into Bowser's Castle and…"

The man could tell where she was going by the tone of her voice. "I died," he said flatly. "No, I don't remember any of those events. And since they have already happened to you, and I am still alive… it could be that they have not happened to me yet."

Time travel was not the only explanation, but it seemed to be one that was the simplest (for a given definition of "simple"). Koojo had mentioned before that Interdimensional travel had some odd side-effects; he'd been transformed into a Koopa when traveling to the Mushroom World, but perhaps he'd gone back in time as well.

"But…" Peach said aloud. "Your true form was a blue lizard creature, like a Yoshi. But you're human here."

The man examined his hand for a moment. "I've always been human," he said. "Strange things happen when time travel is involved. But if you're not lying about knowing me in my future, then you must be able to tell me a detail about myself that I've never told anyone else."

"To be honest, I only knew you for about a week," Peach said. "But… that cloth around your neck. You told me that it was a gift from the man who taught you how to use the Ripple."

He instinctively tugged at the strip of cloth at his neck. "My grandfather," he said. "It was passed from his friend to him, then from him to me. I've never revealed that to anyone."

"You did to me," Peach said. She told him what Koojo had told him some time ago; his home had been overrun by vampires, and he'd only escaped through an Interdimensional portal. Since then, he'd made his fortune as a vampire hunter.

"That is correct. But you may know that because you've read my mind without my knowledge."

Peach placed her hand over her heart. "I swear by my honour and the honour of the Mushroom Kingdom that I don't know how to read minds, and that I'm telling you the unaltered truth."

"Well, you seem noble enough." The man extended his hand toward her. "You know my name already, but I'll introduce myself again. I am Jotaro Kujo of Earth."


	14. Battle Tendency, Part 5

Peach and Jotaro walked into an incoming group of vampires. These ones were marble-skinned and inhumanly beautiful, lacking large fangs or pointed ears, though their eyes were an odd chrome-like colour. They didn't seem too threatening, but Peach suddenly felt afraid of them and turned to run.

"Wait," Jotaro said, grabbing her by the arm. "It's a mind trick. They're trying to intimidate you."

Peach nodded and turned back around. "Right. But before we kill them…" She looked right at the vampires. Just like the one she'd killed before, they were little more than feral animals. "They look more human than most of the undead I've encountered. Will Ripple work on them?"

"No." Some invisible force ripped the lead vampire's head clean from its shoulders. Jotaro gestured toward the severed head, and it exploded into thousands of little chunks of pale pink meat and bone fragments, splattering Peach and the other vampires in gore – but oddly, Jotaro himself was untouched.

The other vampires seemed to hesitate for a moment, but quickly continued their charge. Peach took the initiative this time, conjuring and throwing dozens of little fireballs at the oncoming group. Most of them went down, their bodies burned to cinders, but they still writhed around, futilely trying to crawl toward their prey.

"These ones can survive quite a bit of punishment," Jotaro said. The vampires' heads exploded, one after the other, ending them for good. "Destroying their brains is usually a good way to be sure."

Peach brushed off some of the accumulated gore off of her gi, but gave up and simply absorbed it all as biomass, then shifted back to her standard pink dress. "But I don't quite understand how you're able to do that without moving. Do you have some form of psychokinesis?"

"It's complicated," Jotaro said. "And I still don't entirely trust you. For now, let's just say that I can attack things without touching them."

"I see." Peach was a bit miffed that he still didn't trust her, but then again, she wasn't entirely sure about him. The Koojo she'd known hadn't exactly been a bastion of empathy or anything, but he had cared enough to rescue her and train her in his arts, and he'd been pretty talkative. Jotaro, on the other hand… Well, he was younger here, so maybe something had changed him over the years. "Do you mind if I ask you how you're generating Ripple in here?"

"I'm curious how you're breathing in here," Jotaro said, pointing to his mask. "There's no oxygen in the atmosphere, so I had to bring this. And you look human enough to need oxygen."

"Oh, I have help." Peach pointed to her hair, though the Luma had vanished from sight. "So that's it? You need oxygen to use the Ripple?"

"There's something else about the air here, I think." Jotaro looked at Peach expectantly.

"Huh?"

"Sandwide Station is a vampire… prison, of sorts. Vampires are either sent here against their will or come here willingly to isolate themselves from the greater population. They can't leave, but they have sources of food and entertainment. We tolerate them for the most part. But recently, something's been driving them crazy, turning them into feral monsters. I was sent to investigate."

"That's horrible!" Peach said. "And you killed them so brutally, too… what if they were only attacking because of the air?"

"You're defending vampires?" Jotaro said, his tone cool. "Even if they were lucid, they'd still try to drain us dry. They're monsters through and through, and the universe is better off with them dead."

Peach clenched her fists, barely restraining herself from slapping Jotaro silly. "And if you keep up that attitude, you'll be no better than those monsters. You're human, so show some compassion!"

Jotaro brushed her aside and continued onward.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Peach said.

"I've got a job to do, and it's not babysitting a bleeding-heart woman," Jotaro said, shrugging his shoulders. "Stay out of my way. I don't want you to get yourself killed."

"Hmph! Just because I have a bit of decen-"

But Jotaro was already gone. Peach stormed after him, not because she needed his protection (she vehemently insisted this to herself), but because she had a feeling that whatever was driving the vampires crazy was also related to the Metroid. After all, it was a mighty coincidence that she just happened to meet a younger version of her one-time mentor while trying to complete a task for a cosmic-level being with awareness of other timelines…

Peach continued onwards, following in Jotaro's shadow. He was no doubt aware of her, but she could care less. Several more vampires of many different varieties jumped out at them every so often, but none of them posed any sort of threat to either of them – even the ones immune to healing magic and the Ripple were easily dealt with by turning their brains into a fine pink mist.

Eventually, they passed an ornate door, a gold plaque declaring "Foreman" upon it. Inside was a well-furnished office covered head-to-toe in knick-knacks and trophies. A worn old wooden desk sat in the middle, with a holographic terminal on top, and sitting behind them was a tall pale man dressed in fancy black clothes.

"Oh?" the man said, turning away from the terminal. The man's gaze seemed to have a tangible intensity, not unlike a weight pressed on her chest; Peach avoided direct eye contact with him, but she didn't know how much that would help.

"Uh…" Peach said. "I'm, uh, I'm looking for a creature called a Metroid. Do you know anything about it?"

"I may," the vampire said. He turned the terminal off and got up, standing nearly twice as tall as Peach. "Is that what brings you here?"

"It is," she said. "It was stolen from the Comet Observatory, and I've been asked to retrieve it and bring it to its rightful owner. If you wish, I will trade you something of equal value for it."

"Oh, but my sweet, the Metroid is of unparalleled value to myself and this station." The vampire walked over to Peach. She noticed that even given his size, his footsteps were oddly heavy, and she could almost make out mechanical sounds over the rustling of his clothing and cape. "You see, the Metroid processes geothermal energy into a type that we can consume. Without it, Sandwide Station's society, as it were, would collapse."

"Speaking of which, it seems that you're fairly lucid," Peach said. "The other vampires are-"

"Feral, indeed." The vampire chuckled a bit. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing that his chest (and presumably much of his body) was largely mechanical. "I have agreed to let certain parties experiment on my kin in exchange for… certain privileges."

"Wait," Peach said. An idea was forming in her head, but… was it really possible? "Are you working for the Apex?"

"Ah, you're a sharp one!" The vampire laughed heartily. "The Apex is looking into the subject of vampirism for their newest shock troops. They've developed chemicals that provoke vampires into bouts of feral rage, and their extensive cybernetics will eliminate their weaknesses. They'll be nearly perfect soldiers."

"You're a monster!" Peach said. "Selling out your own kind… Not even vampires deserve that treatment!"

"We're all monsters, my sweet!" The vampire dramatically swished his cape to the side. "Some of us put artificial constraints on our actions, but deep down, we're all the same! Once you realize this, and once you break those chains, your true potential shines! Now, have at you!"

The vampire conjured two giant flaming rocks and flung them at Peach. She raised a barrier and blocked the rocks themselves, but the impact sent her flying clear through the metal walls. The vampire disappeared in a column of light and rematerialized outside. His size was such that he barely fit within the corridors, but he seemed unconcerned, and indeed, it seemed to Peach that it would only make it impossible to run past him.

Peach's offensive options were limited; especially if those cybernetics of his negated his vampiric weaknesses. Still, she had plenty of ways of taking him down. She started with a blast of dazzling ultraviolet light, blinding the vampire long enough for her to safely approach him and plant a Therapy spell on his chest.

But just as he'd claimed, his enhancements completely absorbed and negated the healing magic, keeping him from harm. One of his giant hands grasped Peach's throat, but she noticed immediately that they were cold, clammy flesh. His clothing obscured most of his cybernetics, but he was still at least partially organic; so she cast Group Hug, dousing his entire body in healing magic. The spell charred his hands and face, and parts of his clothing lit on fire as well.

"How dare you!" the vampire shouted. "How dare a mortal inflict such a wound on the Son of the Dragon! I shall not suffer such an insult to my name! I am Vlad Tepes, Dracula, The Dark Lord Incarnate!"

Black mist sprouted from Dracula's wounds, shrouding him completely. Peach tried another Group Hug, but tendrils of mist shot out from the mass and wrapped around Peach's hands and waist, pulling her in toward him. She let loose a spherical blast of force that temporarily weakened the mist, allowing her to pull her arms in and fire a stream of light at his temporarily-exposed head. Dracula reeled from the attack, giving Peach enough time to break free.

Peach tried another blast of force, this time focused at Dracula's head, but he once again vanished in a column of light, dodging the attack narrowly. But even with his physical body gone, she could still feel his immense presence, full of dark emotion and raw chaotic power, all around her. It began to coalesce behind her, and she took her opportunity to throw a dazzling ball into the half-formed vampire's body, stunning him and dealing some internal damage.

As Dracula reformed, a giant scythe materialized in his hand, its blade burning with blackened fire. He swung it several times, each time generating an arc of flame that cut through the walls, floor, ceiling and even Peach's barrier like butter. Peach herself was cut into several pieces, but once his attack was done, the several Peach pieces reformed into a single mass, none the worse for wear. She took Dracula's surprise as an opportunity to rush him, blast him with another Group Hug spell, and claim the scythe from his blackened arm. She repeated his trick and cut him into a couple dozen smaller pieces, though she knew it was only a temporary measure.

The scythe seemed almost eager to see its old master be cut down to size. It was alive in a sense; perhaps Dracula's chaos magic had simply warped it so much that it had gained a rudimentary, bloodthirsty sentience. Peach felt the vampire lord's black magic coursing through the weapon, trying to invade her body and mind and warp her as well, but it was not inherently evil itself; indeed, with some alterations, it could be a useful tool for the side of good.

With some effort, Peach channeled the dark magic within the scythe into her body, then expelled it through her other hand. The energy quickly rejoined a shadowy silhouette of Dracula's body, but it was an acceptable sacrifice. Peach channeled her own magic and willpower into the weapon, and though it resisted at first, it eventually yielded and gave way, accepting her as its new master.

The weapon physically reflected its change in allegiance, as its black-iron blade changed to a pinkish-white hue, lost the jagged curves in favour of a more even crescent, and gained thousands of tiny little teeth along the inner edge. Sure enough, as Peach put a bit more of her magic into it, the teeth started to move back and forth just like her arm blades had, creating a cold prismatic aura on the inside of the blade. Peach swung it through Dracula's dark mist form, dissipating the mist and prompting a cry of unearthly pain from the vampire lord that reverberated not just through the station, but through the minds of everything within.

The remaining parts of his body dematerialized in a flash of light, and his presence flew away from Peach, retreating into the lower floors of the station. It was then that Jotaro returned to the battle scene, looking at the scars of the attack as well as Peach's new toy.

"Not bad for a 'bleeding-heart woman', huh?" Peach said, grinning a bit.

"Not bad," Jotaro admitted. "I wasn't sure how long you'd last against him, but it seems I greatly underestimated you."

"I got some useful information from Dracula," she said. "A group called the Apex is trying to turn the vampires here into super-soldiers by driving them crazy with chemicals and equipping them with cybernetics."

"The Apex, huh? Never heard of them," he said. "But my job is to stop the source of the vampires' insanity. Did he tell you where it's coming from?"

"No, but I'd bet he's heading there now," she said. "I disrupted his body, but his spirit fled somewhere below us. He's probably going there to get reinforcements."

"Then let's off him before he can regroup."

Peach's scythe dissolved into pinkish mist and reformed as a bracelet around her right wrist as she and Jotaro went back to the elevator. She reached out with her magic to try and find Dracula's spirit, but couldn't find anything.

"Hey. You're a Ripple-user, right?" Jotaro asked.

"Yes, why?"

Jotaro held his breath and took off his breathing mask, offering it to her. After initially hesitating due to poor hygiene, she decided that her body would likely be able to handle any germs she got from Jotaro's mouth and took the mask, slipped it around her own mouth and took a deep breath, generating enough Ripple to hopefully last her the duration of the battle. She gave it back to Jotaro, who put it back on.

"I suppose we just sort of kissed," Jotaro said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Hopefully this develops into a forced romance with lots of sexual tension that for various reasons cannot be resolved in a healthy manner."

"That sure does sound appealing," Peach said, matching his tone of voice. "But no thanks. You're not really my type."

"Ah, you're into girls, then," Jotaro said.

"Yes, because anyone who's not into you is automatically a lesbian," she said. "I'm a princess, Jotaro. I must save my love for the person who will eventually become my consort and rule alongside me."

"You didn't deny being a lesbian."

Peach mock-sighed and turned away from him. To be honest, she'd never really felt a truly romantic attraction to anyone, regardless of gender or species. Her friendship with Mario (and to a lesser extent, Luigi) was probably more than platonic, but it'd never felt appropriate for her to act on that, even despite all the gossip and rumours. She supposed that if she was meant to end up with someone, she'd find him (or her, or them) eventually.

Plus, they'd have to compete against her love of cake, and that was a battle very few could win.

"I can feel him," Peach said as they stopped on the fourth floor. Her ability to sense magic or other spiritual forces was underdeveloped, especially considering she couldn't just give it more FP or Ripple like the majority of her other skills, but a presence like Dracula's was evident even to her.

"The main ore processing facility is on this floor, according to the directory," Jotaro said. "These Apex people probably converted it into their laboratory or something when they came in."

The elevator door opened, and the pair was immediately swarmed by a vampire horde. Now armed with Ripple, Peach used a Mist White Overdrive to eradicate the majority of them, while Jotaro cleaned up the survivors. She was still somewhat hesitant about killing these vampires, but her pragmatism won out over her idealism; these vampires had been driven into an insane state of bloodlust against their will, and nothing short of stopping the Apex would cure them, and maybe not even that. She could at least give them release from that potential fate, and hopefully she'd be able to help the rest by defeating Dracula.

Still, if they needed the Metroid to survive, it wouldn't be right for her to take it to Rosalina for her own purposes. She'd have to do another favour to get the information she needed on the Apex, and hopefully she'd still have enough time to save the Mushroom World from their vaguely-defined plan.

Peach and Jotaro ran toward the main processing facility, signified by several antechambers with all sorts of safety warnings. The facility itself was wide open, and just as Jotaro had predicted, the ore-processing equipment had all been replaced with a whole suite of shiny silver machines that contrasted with the dull metal floors and wall. Peach's limited magic sense told her that the machines ran on some seriously weird magic, far different than anything she'd seen on the Mushroom World, and their design suggested that they ran on a combination of high magic and advanced technology.

Dracula was there, his head, arms and torso formed and floating on a tail-like cloud of dark mist. He was speaking to someone out of view of the pair.

"They're vampire hunters!" Dracula said. "You told me Sandwide Station would be protected from vampire hunters!"

"I said nothing of the sort." The voice was far louder than Dracula's, and seemed to have a thick accent (to Peach's ears, at least; she suspected the Luma was trying to convey its strangeness via translation convention). "I told you that I would protect Our investment to the best of my degree, but that you and the vanilla vampires were on your own."

"You dare cheat The Dark Lord Incarnate?!" Dracula summoned up more flaming rocks, but a quick slice from an unseen weapon sliced both rocks into chunks, and severed Dracula's arm, in a split second.

"I have nothing at stake here. Deal with it yourself."

Dracula turned toward Peach and Jotaro, holding his severed arm in his other hand. "You are nothing to me, Ripple-users! I am Dracula, equal and opposite of God Himself! No mere mortals will defeat me!"

Dracula fully dissolved into mist as several vampires appeared before him. Like him, these vampires had heavy cybernetic modifications covering nearly their entire bodies save for their heads and hands. Peach summoned her scythe and Jotaro called forth his invisible power, and both charged into the fray.

Peach's light-cutting scythe easily sliced one of the cyber-vampires in half, but to her surprise, hundreds of tiny wires shot out from both ends and pulled the two halves together. The cyber-vampire opened fire on her with energy cannons mounted on its elbows, stunning her long enough for two of the vampires to pin her to the ground and sink their teeth into her flesh.

Their enhancements hadn't been in intelligence, it seemed. Peach channeled her Ripple through the bite wounds and into the vampires, vaporizing most of their heads, then sliced them into bits with her scythe. Jotaro, meanwhile, was screaming "ORA ORA ORA" and punching a cyber-vampire so rapidly that its chest armour had split open, revealing the mushy mess that had been its biological body. With a final punctuated "ORA", Jotaro punched its head, helmet and all, clean off, sending it flying clear to the other end of the facility.

Peach pumped some of her Ripple into her scythe and cut down another cyber-vampire, making sure to cut it up enough to overcome its regeneration. But to her surprise, the small pieces were still moving, and several pieces from different cyber-vampires had attached together into a half-formed torso and two arms. The arms grabbed one of her legs and threw off her balance long enough for a whole cyber-vampire to shoot her several times in the face. The bullets had little effect, though, and Peach regained her footing with her scythe while popping the bullets out of her face Wolverine-style.

"Hey, do you notice that?" Peach yelled to Jotaro, gesturing to the half-formed torso on the ground.

"Yeah," he said as his invisible partner crushed one of the pieces into dust. "We just have to reduce them into smaller parts."

But Peach had a different idea. She stomped on the cyber-vampire torso and channeled an Electric Light Overdrive through her foot. The torso stopped in its tracks and showered her with sparks, and the inert pieces fell apart. She then swung her scythe at the last whole cyber-vampire, embedding the blade in its flesh but not slicing all the way through, and channeled a stronger Electric Light Overdrive through it, sending the cyber-vampire into convulsions.

It was then that Dracula re-emerged, now in the form of a giant humanoid bat monster. He grabbed the convulsing cyber-vampire in his flabby claw and devoured it whole, adding its mass and power to his own. He shot several dozen fireballs from his mouth at Peach, but she raised her hexagon shield and absorbed most of them, then fired them back as a beam of fiery energy. Dracula took the blast head-on, but seemed none the worse for wear.

Dracula screamed something incomprehensible and leapt into the air, coming down with a ground-splitting crash. Jotaro seemed to teleport behind Dracula and struck the base of his neck with his Ripple-powered fist, but Dracula dug his claws into Jotaro's back, lifted him into the air, and threw him on the ground. Before he could squish the poor man underneath his foot, Peach threw a dazzling ball in his face, rushed him and severed his leg at the hip with her scythe, grabbing and tossing Jotaro to the side before Dracula could crush him underneath his immense bulk.

Peach ran over to Jotaro and healed him with a Therapy spell. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he grunted. "He's tough but not invincible. We're wearing him down quickly, so keep up the assault and he'll be dead in no time."

Peach nodded and recharged her scythe with magic and Ripple. Dracula's leg reattached itself to his body with tendrils of dark mist, but Peach threw a Mist White Overdrive at him, dissipating the mist and causing Dracula to topple over again. It was then that Peach had a great new idea for a special move.

"Vampire Hunter Overdrive!" she shouted. The blade of her scythe tripled in size, becoming partially transparent and gaining a slightly pinker hue, as well as a more intense prismatic aura. She swung the scythe in Dracula's direction, sending out repeated shockwaves of energy that sliced through his flesh like nothing. She finished it by jumping over to Dracula and releasing all the energy within the scythe as a single wave of light and Ripple that totally vaporized what was left of his head and upper torso.

Dracula's remaining body parts dissolved into dark mist and faded away, and his presence vanished from Sandwide Station.

"Showoff," Jotaro muttered.

"Indeed. That was an impressive technique, but quite wasteful. You have little Ripple left now."

The being with the accented voice appeared out of thin air, roughly at the spot of Dracula's latest death. He was barely half a meter high and was largely spherical; basically a head with stubby arms and legs. He wore dark blue pauldrons accented with gold, a black cape billowing in invisible wind behind him, white gauntlets, dark purple armored boots, and a white mask over his face with a V-shaped slit revealing glowing yellow eyes. Upon his brow was a crest: a black circle with a vertical line through the middle, set within a golden triangle.

"Your battle prowess has impressed me, woman. I would test your strength for myself."

"Sorry, but I don't fight just for the sake of it," Peach said. She took a wild guess and said, "You're one of the Apex, aren't you?"

"I am Lord Meta Knight, Warrior-God of the Apex." Meta Knight did a mock bow to Peach. In his left hand was an orange-yellow sword with six wavy spikes, three on each side.

"And I am Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom." Peach responded to his bow with a curtsy of her own. "Your group hired a gang of Space Pirates to attack my planet. I wish to know why."

"I do not concern myself with such things," Meta Knight said. "It is my duty to raise, train and improve the Knights of Apex, including myself. I do not deploy them."

"But why would your army target my world?" Peach asked.

"Because it is Our divine mission to bring all worlds into our fold," Meta Knight said with the tone of someone who'd repeated the same line a million times. "We eliminate petty things such as war, famine, disease and poverty, and bring out the best of the worlds We conquer. And for those who do not come willingly, We show them Our might."

"I disagree with your philosophy," Peach said. "You should not force major societal upheaval on others. How much time do you spend putting down rebellions on the planets you conquer?"

"As I said, I do not concern myself with such things. My duty and desire is to fight the strongest warriors in the universe, and you are worthy of my challenge. I will not kill you now, as you are weakened from battle, but I will not hesitate to strike both you and him down if you refuse my offer."

"…Fine." Peach gathered her wits together and raised her scythe. "I accept."


	15. Battle Tendency, Part 6

"Wait."

Jotaro took off his mask and handed it to Peach. She put it on and took a breath, refilling her Ripple reserves for the fight ahead. She doubted that one of the Gods of Apex would be vulnerable to it, but she needed every advantage she would get.

"Thanks," she said as he put the mask back on. "I guess we can't fight together, huh?"

"I doubt it," Jotaro said, "and even if we could, I'm far outclassed by you two. I'd prefer to stand and watch."

"A wise decision," Meta Knight said. "Do you require any more preparation?"

"No," Peach said. "I'm ready."

"Then let us begin."

Meta Knight opened up with an arc of energy from his sword. She didn't even see him swing his arm, and was caught flat-footed as the beam cleanly sliced her in two. She wasn't seriously harmed by the attack, but no sooner had she put herself back together that Meta Knight sliced her again, this time diagonally. He vanished and reappeared behind Peach in an instant, and another deep slash wound opened up on her body.

He was far faster than she was, had more experience in combat, and was more skilled with his weapon. Peach could regenerate from any wounds he inflicted, but she was far inferior to him in actual combat. So she'd have to make up the difference by out-thinking him.

Peach threw a dazzling ball at her feet, blinding everything in the facility. She followed it with a combination of her Magical Force and Group Hug spells, centered on herself, creating a field of outward-pushing force around her. It wouldn't be strong enough to deter him completely, but just as expected, it slowed him down just enough for her to see him blindly charging at her, his cape transformed into wings, and block his sword with the handle of her scythe.

Meta Knight flew back and charged again, coming at her from the left this time. He was effectively invisible outside of her Force Barrier, but her enhanced reflexes let her parry his strike and follow up with an Electric Light Overdrive. But he rolled with the parry and allowed the Force Barrier to push him back in time to avoid her attack.

The light from her dazzling ball faded, revealing the second part of her plan; a number of fireballs floating randomly in midair that she'd cast alongside the Force Barrier spell. Meta Knight stopped long enough for the fireballs to lock on to his position and fly after him, and even though he took them all out with another invisible sword slash, he was distracted from the third part of Peach's plan.

Two dozen black heart-shaped objects shot out of the ground around Meta Knight and exploded around him. She called them "Heart Bombs", a variation of the Psych Bomb spell she'd learned and used while fighting the Smithy Gang; the Psych Bombs weren't all that effective and consumed a lot of FP, but the Heart Bombs were quite a bit stronger and exploded continuously for a few seconds. Peach created a few more in her free hand and added them to the fire, but Meta Knight flew outward, completely unscathed, and sliced Peace into multiple pieces.

"Stop that!" Peach said as she put herself back together. "I thought you said you weren't trying to kill me!"

Meta Knight responded by creating a tornado around himself by spinning around. The suction effect was enough to pick up pieces of the cyber-vampires and throw them around with enough force to dent the walls and machines. Peach threw a few Heart Bombs into the cyclone, but they predictably had little effect.

The cyclone moved toward her, much slower than Meta Knight but still quite quickly. Peach braced herself with her scythe and put up a barrier with a force effect, both blocking the cyclone and trying to push it away, but he continued forward. The air pressure ripped her skin and clothes, tearing away her biomass and throwing it to the far corners of the room. She was putting all her power into the barrier, but it just wasn't enough…

Several Heart Bombs dropped into the top of the cyclone, stunning Meta Knight and dissipating his attack. Peach was thrown back by the force of the explosion as well.

The two scout bodies Peach had split off were floating above Meta Knight, throwing more Heart Bombs at him. He flew upward and sliced at them, but they put up force barriers of their own, giving Peach's main body enough time to recover and regenerate from the explosion and blast him with a force blast of her own. Meta Knight flew back several steps, and the two infant Peaches floated over to Peach, taking their positions on either side of her.

"I see…" Meta Knight said. "Normally I would execute you for violating the rules of an honourable duel, but since these are bodies made of your own mass, I suppose I can allow it."

"To be honest, I don't stand a chance even with help." Peach's scythe returned to its bracelet form. "I've thrown everything I have at you and I haven't even torn your cape. And I have the feeling that you're holding back on me, too."

"You would be correct." Meta Knight's sword vanished in a flash of light. "You have a great amount of power, but your skills are tailored to killing vampires, not fighting other living things."

"I don't like killing people. I recognize that it sometimes must be done, but I would prefer to avoid it if at all possible. But with that said…" Peach went into a defensive stance that Koojo had taught her. "I won't allow your group to attack my world in the name of some divine mandate. I know I can outlast you, so I'll fight you until the end of time if that's how long it'll take me to win."

"Such a fight would be unsatisfying," Meta Knight said. "But you have great potential. I will give you three months to train yourself for a rematch. If your skills are still lacking, I will kill you then."

"And what about my home world?"

"If others were hired to prepare your world for Us, then it will take at least a year for a conversion fleet to arrive. If necessary, I will delay them – I would not have you distracted in preparation for our fight."

"You would intentionally obstruct your army's goals just so you could fight her again? That's downright idiotic," Jotaro said.

"As I said, I do not concern myself with the greater needs of the Apex. My purpose is to fight, nothing less and nothing more."

"I'll accept your deal," Peach said. "But if I may ask, what will happen to the vampires here? Dracula said they'd been driven crazy with some sort of chemical…"

"The treatment will wear off within a few weeks." Meta Knight looked at the remains of the cyber-vampires on the floor. "These augmented vampires are not as effective as the Knights of Apex We already have. They have no place in Our army, so We will be withdrawing from Sandwide Station soon."

"Good to know," Jotaro said.

"As for you, Princess Peach…" Meta Knight took a device shaped like his mask from within his cape and threw it at her. "This will alert you when your three months is up. I will come to you. Do not attempt to run or hide, or I will find you and kill you, no matter where you are."

"I understand," Peach said. "But I won't run. I'm a Princess of my word, and I will face you when the time comes."

"I look forward to it." And with a flourish of his cape, Meta Knight was gone.

Peach turned to Jotaro. "Would you be able to help me? I'm sure I could learn a lot from you."

"I doubt it. You're already far stronger than I'll ever be," Jotaro said. "Plus I have other duties to attend to. I need to collect my pay and inform my employer about what went down here."

"I see. Well, I hope we meet again."

"We will." Jotaro tipped his hat, and he too vanished.

Peach turned to leave as well, but something caught her eye on the way out. She went to investigate… and found the thing she'd come for in the first place.

The Metroid was trapped in a cylindrical glass tube, itself fitted in some sort of machine. It looked like the creature Rosalina had shown her, but the colours were off; its outer skin was pale green and wrinkled, the nuclei within were purple and covered in black spots, and its mandibles were covered in burn marks. It let out a weak squeak as Peach approached and retreated to the far edge of its cage.

What had they been doing to this poor thing? The burn marks suggested that Dracula's story was true, that they were using it to convert geothermal energy into something the vampires could consume, and thus it was vital to Sandwide Station's function. But the Metroid was suffering because of it… plus, it had been stolen from Rosalina in the first place.

Peach placed her hand on the glass tube and channeled a bit of her remaining Ripple into it. The energy flowed into the Metroid, and it immediately perked up; some of the colour returned to its membrane and nuclei, and it zipped vigorously around the tube, striking its mandibles against the glass where Peach's hand was. She slowly pumped the rest of her Ripple into it, feeding it until it regained its proper colour and the burns faded away.

She couldn't just leave it here… but it was needed to help the vampires. There had to be some way-

"Wait," Peach said aloud. She looked at the Metroid, then at one of the infant Peaches floating beside her. They looked about the same size... but Peach was unable to convert one of her smaller bodies into a facsimile of the creature. An odd limitation, she thought, but a logical one; she'd gained her Ultimate Life Form abilities on the Mushroom World, so her shapeshifting powers were likely tied to that world's biosphere and history of evolution. The Metroid was an alien, and thus outside of that purview. But just because she was unable to do it now, didn't mean she could learn.

Peach took the glass tube out of the machine. The bottom of the tube was glass as well, but the top was a glowing metal cap of sorts with a switch in the middle. She flipped the switch and popped the top off, and the Metroid immediately flew out and dug its larger set of mandibles into her temples. She didn't have any Ripple left and couldn't generate more, so she directed a steady stream of FP into the creature; based on its cheery and repeated chirping, it seemed to enjoy her FP just as much, if not even more.

Peach placed her hand on the Metroid's outer membrane, and absorbed a few of its cells. Her own cells deconstructed and analyzed the creature's cellular structure and genetic makeup; its "genes" had a different structure and used different nucleotides than her DNA, but they were still based on hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen, and were thus "organic" in a sense. With the Metroid's makeup preserved in her memory, she took control of both of her smaller bodies and reconstructed them cell-by-cell into perfect genetic clones.

With that done, she firmly removed the original Metroid from her head and placed it back in the glass tube, sealing it back up. The Metroid tried to protest, but it was too bloated from its meal to put up much of a fight. She left the copy Metroids floating in midair by the machine that had held the glass tube; they would be inert and completely docile after she left, but since their ability to drain energy seemed to be a reflex, occurring whenever they were exposed to a compatible energy source, they would still absorb geothermal energy for the vampires' use. But just to be sure, Peach continued to give them psychic compulsions to not harm other things and absorb energy when prompted until she left.

Finally, she returned to the landing pad outside the station. "I'm ready to leave, Luma," she said, and the Luma complied, drawing up some of her FP to create another Launch Star. Peach stepped within it and activated, blasting off back into intergalactic space.

* * *

"You planned this out, didn't you?"

Peach was once again in the Comet Observatory, having safely returned with the Metroid in tow. Rosalina was holding the Metroid in her bare hands, but the creature was in a state of torpor (Peach hesitated to call it "sleeping") brought on from its feast.

"The fact that both the Apex and a Mr. Jotaro Kujo were present on Sandwide Station when you arrived must have been a coincidence," Rosalina said, smiling a bit. "And I certainly do not know the man who hired Mr. Kujo to investigate the station."

Peach smiled too. She'd spent enough time reading between the lines of unpleasant and obstructive bureaucrats to realize that Rosalina was certainly not a man. "Yeah, definitely a coincidence. But the Metroid really is yours, right?"

"Yes. It was taken from me when Bowser attacked a hundred years ago. I'm glad you found a way to stop its suffering." Rosalina gently petted the Metroid's membrane then set it into a much larger glass terrarium. "Did you learn everything you needed to know about the Apex?"

"I learned enough," Peach said. "But there was a person named Meta Knight there. He let me go for now, but he's going to come back in three months and challenge me again for real."

"Hmm…" Rosalina closed her eye and paused for a moment. "That's rather unlucky. Meta Knight is considered by some to be the most powerful individual member of the Apex, even greater than the Over-God, its founder and leader. He will not be easily defeated."

"I could tell. But… I had an idea on the way back here."

"Oh?" Rosalina said in mock-surprise, her small smile extending into a full-on grin.

"Well, since I already have enough information about the Apex, I'd like to re-negotiate the terms of our exchange," Peach said. "In exchange for the Metroid, I'd like to improve my fighting skill."

"I will accept these terms," Rosalina said. "Unfortunately, my aptitudes lie outside of combat, so I cannot teach you myself. But I have many contacts throughout the universe, many of whom owe me favours. I'm sure one of them will be willing to teach you."

"Thank you." Peach bowed to Rosalina. "Thank you for everything."

"I am only fulfilling my obligation, of course," Rosalina said, still grinning. "The Apex has wronged many of my friends. I cannot act against them directly for various reasons, but I can assist you in taking them down a notch."

Rosalina walked off to get in touch with her contacts, while Peach returned to the guest bedroom and immediately fell asleep. The next few months were gonna be rough.


	16. Battle Tendency, Part 7

"Come on, you can do better than this!"

Peach swung her scythe downward, but a doll-sized human figure with green hair and wearing nothing but a red cape and red shorts easily dodged the attack by jumping several meters into the air. He flew down and attacked her with a flurry of punches and kicks, but she repelled him by putting up a reflective barrier.

Of Rosalina's contacts, only one had agreed to train Peach for the upcoming battle. And since Peach had three months to train, she decided that the first month would be dedicated to improving her skill with her newly-acquired scythe.

The figure training her was the successor of the Jinx-style school of martial arts, aptly named Jinx III. Despite his stature, he was a formidable opponent, possessing incredible speed and surprising strength. He fought with only his hands, but since he was able to block her scythe with his bare hands, he didn't really need a weapon of his own.

Peach reached out with her hand and fired a Dark Hold Overdrive at Jinx, but he easily broke through the chains with a burst of blue-white light from his fingertip as he landed on the smooth tiled stone of their ring. The Jinx school's dojo had relocated just south of its former home of Monstro Town, taking advantage of the sparse population of the area to build a larger dojo as well as an outdoor fighting ring made up of hundreds of white stone tiles. Jinx shouted "Silver Bullet!" and shot a concentrated burst of energy at Peach, but she intercepted it by swinging her scythe, generating a pink beam of energy that cut through the Silver Bullet and detonated it early.

Jinx let out a kiai and vanished from sight, but Peach kept her guard up and quickly scanned the ring for signs of his presence. Like Meta Knight, he could move so quickly as to be nearly invisible, but Peach had been training to overcome that particular weakness of hers; she managed to catch glimpses of him as she quickly looked around, but it took her a few seconds to definitively lock on to him. From there, she extrapolated where he would move to, and fired a beam of energy from the tip of her scythe, 'tagging' him.

Peach had gained enhanced eyesight from her transformation, but as Jinx had explained, there were certain flaws inherent with a human's eyesight and the way their brains interpreted it that made his "move-so-fast-as-to-be-invisible" technique possible. There were ways of overcoming it, of course, but rather than give her a crash course in Jinx-style martial arts, they'd worked together to develop a spell she could use to 'tag' another person with a magical beacon. Her ability to sense magic was limited, but it was more reliable than her eyes, and her also-enhanced reflexes let her track and defend against another Silver Bullet attack.

The 'tag' spell only lasted a minute or so, and could be dispelled by an enemy magic-user, but it was still relatively effective. Peach fired a few fireballs at Jinx, using her tag as a focus to home in on, but he quickly disintegrated them with several thin beams of energy, leaving him vulnerable to a Magical Force spell that nearly blasted him out of the ring.

"Alright, that's enough," Jinx said. Both he and Peach returned to the center of the ring and bowed to one another. "You've definitely improved, Peach, but I think there's something fundamental holding you back."

"What's that, Master Jinx?" Peach asked.

"It's that scythe of yours. You have skill in wielding it, but I just don't think it's the right weapon for you."

The scythe returned to its bracelet form around Peach's wrist. "Yes, I've been feeling that as well," she said. "But I think having a weapon of some sort is a good idea for me. I do have skill with my fists, but I don't think I'll be able to get to your level of skill for several decades, at least."

"Indeed. Come, let's see if we can find you something more comfortable."

Jinx and Peach returned to the dojo, an elaborate manor-like building built in a mock-Japanese style (impressive, considering Japan didn't exist in the Mushroom World), equipped with weight-lifting equipment, training dummies and pretty much every other thing you'd expect to see in a martial arts school. Jinx led her to a room on the second floor, labelled "Armory".

"Let's see…" Jinx looked at the various weapons decorating every square inch of the somewhat small room. It was equipped with everything from swords and spears, to various types of guns, to other unorthodox 'weapons' like a grave stone, a megaphone and a pair of dentures with missing teeth. "Perhaps a spear of some sort? Or maybe a bow and arrow? What do you think, Princess?"

Peach looked over the room herself, but none of the many weapons seemed to jump out at her as the right one. "I don't know," she said. "To be honest with you, though…"

"Hmm?"

"No, it's silly, sorry."

"No, please tell me. Even if it's not something you'd traditionally think of as a weapon, I'm sure it could still be put to good use."

"Well... I used to have a parasol that I carried around everywhere. I used it as a weapon a few times, but it was never all that effective."

"Is that so? Well, if that scythe can change allegiances, then perhaps it can change shape as well. Perhaps you should speak to it to see if it's willing."

Jinx led Peach to another room, this one labelled "Meditation". It was dark inside, lit only by a few candles in each corner, and smelled of thick incense. A small fountain sat in the center of the room, surrounded by dark red cushions. Peach had been in here before, and took her usual spot right next to the fountain as Jinx closed the door.

The scythe was magically powerful, and Peach had definitely sensed some sort of independent willpower when she'd first claimed it from Dracula. But she wasn't sure exactly how to speak to it, of if it understood speech at all. The bracelet unfolded into the scythe's full form, its blade casting a soft pink light on Peach and the fountain, and she rested it on her lap as she sat down on one of the cushions.

"Hello," she said softly. "My name is Peach. Do you understand me?"

But the scythe made no visible response. Peach extended her magic sense outward, trying to detect any fluctuations in it. She repeated herself, but it still remained inert. She tried channeling a bit of her magic into it in short bursts, mimicking what she knew of Morse code, but it still made no response.

There was one other way she knew of. It might be dangerous, and she hadn't used it in quite some time, but she did have some limited telepathic ability which she might be able to use to contact the scythe directly. She already had a magical bond with the scythe, as it was filled with FP from her own body; so she gently poured FP into the invisible bond between them, widening it enough for a part of her consciousness to flow through it and into the scythe.

Peach suddenly felt a chill wind blowing all around her. She opened her eyes to find herself on the moonlit balcony of what looked like a gothic version of Mushroom Castle. The rough design was the same, but the castle seemed to be made of dark stone, the parapets were higher and sharper, and skeletal figures prowled the grounds and outer walls. The moon was much larger, occupying nearly half of the southern sky, and had an odd peach-coloured twinge to it.

"Greetings to you, master."

Peach turned around to see a skeletal figure floating before her. It wore a blue robe and hood, with silver embroidery and decorated with silver pendants and short chains, with only its face and bony fingers visible. It held a copy of the scythe in its left hand, its pinkish-white blade and slightly cuter design at odds with the spirit's aesthetic.

"You're the spirit of the scythe?" Peach asked.

"I am," it said. "Once, I was the lieutenant of a great and powerful dark lord… but my failures were too numerous and great, so my soul was ripped out and forged into a weapon, that I might still be useful to him."

"Dracula," Peach muttered. "Please forgive me. If I had known that a soul was trapped within here, I never would have used you. I can destroy the scythe if you wish."

"Do not be concerned about my condition, master. I am little more of an echo of that being, a few memories and experiences that survived this weapon's construction. I am not truly alive or intelligent any more, and destroying the scythe would only dissipate what remains of me into the ether."

"I see," Peach said. Her magic sense confirmed its story; it was something of a ghost, attached to this weapon by dark and profane arts, but it still had considerable power remaining. The castle and grounds seemed to be an extension of that power, existing in the same sort of half-dead state of the spirit, rather than just being something her mind was using to compensate for the confusing sensory input. "Do you have a name?"

"I did at some point, but it was lost to me when that being was forged into this scythe."

"Well then, how about I give you a new name? I'll call you… Grim."

The spirit went silent for a bit, the moonlight reflecting off its face seeming to give it a grotesque but oddly warm smile. "Thank you, master. It is a bit unoriginal, but I will happily accept my new name from you."

Peach smiled too. "Well then, Grim, on to business. You have quite a bit of power in you, but I'm afraid that I'm not really used to wielding a scythe, and I don't have much time to learn how to properly wield it. Are you able and willing to change your physical shape?"

"I would do anything to please you, master. Please name the shape you wish me to take."

Rather than try to describe it, Peach sent a vision of her old parasol through the telepathic link they shared. Grim looked up at the starry sky in the north, nodded, and vanished for a moment. When he reappeared, he was carrying an exact replica of the parasol.

"You're sure you don't mind being in that form?" Peach asked. "I understand if you would prefer something else."

"Of course not, master. My physical shape matters little to me." The moon pulsed and fired a wave of pink energy at them, but Grim pointed the parasol at the moon and created a barrier that protected the entire castle from destruction. "This weapon had less offensive capabilities than the scythe, but is much greater defensively. Will this work for you?"

"Yes, it will. Thank you, Grim."

"No, thank you, master. You are far kinder than my previous master, and that means much to me. I will be always available if you wish to speak to me again."

Peach ended the telepathic link. The scythe on her lap had indeed transformed into a parasol, though it was slightly different than the one she'd owned. The canopy was still pink and the handle was white with its end curved into the shape of a heart, but the handle was longer and the canopy both longer and wider than before. The bottom edge of the canopy was covered in several segments of white wire, which cleanly severed two of Peach's fingers when she ran her hand over one. The top spike of the parasol had been replaced by a blue gemstone in the shape of a heart. The entire weapon seemed heavier and more durable than her old one, and the magic coursing through it would make it even more so.

The next day, Peach and Jinx reconvened on the ring outside of the dojo. The bracelet on Peach's wrist, now pink and bearing the same blue heart-shaped gemstone, expanded into its full form, which was about half as tall as Peach herself. She grabbed the handle and pointed it at Jinx, channeling some extra FP into it for the fight ahead.

"I will admit, it doesn't look like much from here," Jinx said. "But if that's what you chose, then I'll see how you do with it."

Peach immediately tagged Jinx with her tracking spell before he vanished. She opened the parasol's canopy and turned to the right, intercepting one of Jinx's kicks and reflecting the kinetic energy as a blast of force that took him by surprise and nearly knocked him out of the ring. Jinx responded by surrounding himself in a column of red light, a technique Peach didn't recognize, but she did try to disrupt it with a thin pink laser fired from the gemstone on her parasol. The light absorbed the laser and grew stronger, rather than dispelling it as she had intended; Jinx's techniques were based on something he called Ki, which was closer to Ripple than magic, though still different than both.

Jinx concentrated the light around himself, cloaking himself in a bright red aura. He promptly vanished from sight again, and Peach was able to tell from her tag spell that he was moving even faster than before. She focused two barriers on either side of her parasol's canopy, and raised it above her head to protect against Jinx's kick from above.

Jinx's hit easily shattered the outer Force Barrier, and though the material itself held, the force of his kick went right through and knocked Peach off balance. He followed up with another kick to the center of her ribcage, landing and causing severe internal damage to her ribs and organs. He retreated just long enough for Peach to regain her balance and heal some of the damage with a self-targeted Therapy spell. Jinx attacked again from the back, but this time, Peach unleashed the energy from the inner Hexagon Barrier, cancelling his momentum with her own and leaving him suspended in mid-air for just a split second.

Peach channeled a bit of her FP into the gemstone on top of her parasol, creating a construct of pink energy shaped like a hammer head. She swung it hard, and though Jinx managed to block it with his arm, the impact did leave a slight bruise. Jinx retreated backward to the other end of the ring, his red aura pulsing unsteadily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here, let me heal that for you." Peach dropped her guard and walked toward Jinx, but he held his hand up.

"It's not serious, so it can wait." Jinx muttered something under his breath, and the red aura around him stabilized. "But I'd like to see the extent of your defensive skill. I've got one last technique I haven't used on you, and it's a big one. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I think so," Peach said. "But are you sure you're okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be okay." Jinx closed his eyes and started to recite some sort of mantra in an unknown language. Peach raised her parasol and put up two barriers as Jinx's red aura expanded outward, forming into a sphere nearly three times his size, emitting so much heat that the air shimmed around it. The inside of the sphere began to fill up with blue-white Ki energy.

"Here it comes, Peach! Bombs Away!" The aura concentrated slightly as Jinx charged toward Peach, sphere and all. The barriers held on initial impact, but only barely, so Peach put all the FP she could into her barriers and the parasol to keep them active. Jinx concentrated the aura further, decreasing its surface size but increasing its pressure, which was generating a vortex of wind and heat so severe that the tiled stones beneath them started to melt and bubble up. Her barriers were barely holding, so Peach reached out to her parasol and channeled some of Jinx's Ki away and into her own body, venting it out through the backs of her shoulders, causing further internal damage.

Finally, Jinx released control of the sphere, detonating it in an enormous explosion of heat and force. The explosion was brutal; the ring itself was cratered and uneven, the grass around the ring was ripped up and/or lit on fire, and the windows of the dojo itself were all blown out.

"Huh… I haven't used that in some time…" Jinx said, panting heavily and sweating profusely. "How are you holding up?"

Peach dropped the parasol, which was covered in over a dozen hexagonal bands of brightly-glowing white energy. Other than the burns on her shoulder blades, she was completely unharmed. "I'm all right," she said. She cast a quick Group Hug spell to heal both Jinx and herself. "I'll have to get rid of that energy, though. Please excuse me for a moment."

Peach grabbed her parasol and flew upward, quickly disappearing from sight. A twinkle of white energy appeared in the daytime sky for the briefest moment, followed a few seconds later by Peach landing gracefully back on solid ground.

"Well, it seems that your defensive skill has improved greatly," Jinx said.

"I was barely able to contain that attack," Peach said, pointing to the two patches of burnt ground that lined up with the formerly-burnt patches of her shoulder blades. "I'll need to keep improving."

"Indeed," Jinx said. "But I think that's enough for today. Why don't you go relax in the sauna?"

"That sounds lovely."

* * *

The second month would be dedicated to training Peach's magical skill and knowledge, but none of Rosalina's acquaintances were available during the short time period. Peach was okay with going to one of the Mushroom World's many wizards and requisitioning a few spellbooks, but Rosalina had a different idea.

As such, Peach landed in a place familiar to her – the city of Rogueport, once a territory of the Mushroom Kingdom but now part of an independent country known as the Rogue Isles. The city itself, like New Toad Town, had grown and progressed significantly since her last visit over a hundred years ago, but it was still full of ne'er-do-wells and shady deals; they merely used more advanced technology and tactics to hide their tracks.

Peach got on one of the city's bullet trains and took it to the Rogueport Underground, formerly a city destroyed in a cataclysm over a millennium ago. As she learned later, the Rogue Isles government had poured a lot of money into gutting the old ruins and replacing them with modern houses and businesses; but despite their best efforts, the Underground still felt like something of a frontier town, populated and ruled by the outcasts of "legitimate" society.

The reconstruction efforts had also blocked most of the 'dangerous' areas of the Underground, but a bribe to one of the locals led her to a secret passage that itself led to an open room with an elaborate pedestal before a great door. Peach stepped on the pedestal and, lacking the proper tools to open it, brute-forced it by pumping great amounts of FP into the seven star-shaped indents around the pedestal, activating them and breaking the seal on the Thousand-Year Door.

It seemed like an eternity ago that Peach had been forced through this door by a being named Grodus and his society of X-Nauts. They had learned that an ancient demon slept behind the Door and wished to reawaken it for their own ends, but in the end, the demon had destroyed them, and had subsequently been destroyed by Mario and his friends turning its own artifacts against it. The Crystal Stars had been scattered all across the Mushroom World, mostly to universities or wizarding societies that could be trusted with such powerful magical artifacts, and the Door sealed again to prevent anything else from getting out; but Peach had neither the time nor the desire to reunite the Crystal Stars.

The Palace of Shadow, the dwelling place of the demon, had scarcely changed since her first visit there. The monsters were gone, but the architecture and traps were all still perfectly intact. There was likely some sort of magic in place to preserve the place, or perhaps it had been a byproduct of the Door being sealed. Either way, she wasn't threatened by anything within, and quickly made her way to the end.

At the end of the Palace was a coffin decorated with elaborate designs and surrounded by candles. Peach lit all of the candles with a small fire spell, surrounded the coffin with a mixture of salt and silver shavings, and recited the incantation that Rosalina had given her.

"Being of foul darkness, fragment of the world of Celaeno! Shadow Queen, I bind you to your resting place and summon you to this world!"

The coffin's top blasted off, and a sensation of pure, icy darkness flowed from within. The candles flickered and died, and were replaced by pitch-black flames that cast the room in an eerie light. Peach created a dazzling ball above her, but it was quickly snuffed out by a vortex of black wind forming above the coffin.

The vortex manifested further features: two arms, a head half-covered by a large golden crown adorned with jewels, and dozens of strands of bright pink hair. The demon's body, a wispy strip of purple energy filled with twinkling starlights, coiled up like a spring.

"And so I have been summoned again… but this person is familiar to me, yes…" the Shadow Queen said. Its voice was deep and filled with contempt. "You are the vessel last used to contain me, but you have changed much since we last met."

"I have," Peach said, remaining resolute. She remembered the feeling of it possessing her body all too well; even though she had faced worse since then, the memories of being unable to control her own body, of being forced to fight her friend and protector, and of the demon's utter maliciousness and hatred of everything else… "But I have not changed enough to consider bargaining with a demon. I am a princess, first and foremost, and that will never change."

"Oh, but it has," the Shadow Queen said. "I see it in your heart… you have committed terrible acts in the name of protecting your kingdom. How many Space Pirates and vampires have died to your hands? And now you come to me, seeking easy power to defeat an enemy out of your reach."

"You dare judge me, demon?" Peach shouted. "I have defended my kingdom by killing others, but I have done so against enemies who would have gladly slaughtered every living thing in the Mushroom World and who could not be reasoned with. And I do not intend on bargaining with you, demon. I am a princess first and foremost, and I will not stain my hands with such a vile deed!"

"Is that so, my little vessel? Then why have you gone to the trouble to bring me back?

Peach held up three fingers. "First, I command you to tell me how you survived the battle with Mario a hundred years ago."

"I will not be commanded by you!" the Shadow Queen spat.

"I bind you in the name of Rosalina!" Peach shouted back. "I bind you, demon, in the name of Rosalina!"

The Shadow Queen visibly recoiled each time Peach spoke the name. "You dare invoke that name against me!? You know nothing!"

"I bind you in the name of Rosalina!" Peach repeated, holding up Rosalina's diamond brooch. "Now answer my question, demon, or I will send you back to the shadows of nonexistence!"

"…Fine." The Shadow Queen recomposed itself, though it was obviously angry. "I am a fragment of that which lies beyond the pale. My spirit and power were diminished by that battle, but even tools such as the Crystal Stars cannot truly eradicate me."

That lined up with what Rosalina had said. The Shadow Queen had been summoned from somewhere else by an ancient Mushroom World sage, and it was Rosalina who had bound it in the first place nearly two millennia ago. But the Shadow Queen had escaped its first imprisonment and created the Crystal Stars to get back at her – but four heroes had stolen the Crystal Stars and used them to bind it again. That was the state it was in when Grodus learned of it from Beldam, one of the Shadow Queen's creations and trusted allies, who had spent the intervening years trying to find a method to unseal her master.

"I accept your answer, demon," Peach said, lowering the brooch for now. "Second, I command you to relinquish the Book of Minwu, which you unlawfully stole and twisted to your own foul will."

The Shadow Queen laughed. "If it was truly Rosalina that sent you here, little vessel, then you should know that both I and the Book are inexorably linked. Relinquishing the Book would end my life – and by the rules of summoning, I cannot be ordered to harm myself."

"Yes, you're right," Peach said. "But that's the third reason I've summoned you. I have the means to completely and utterly destroy you, demon, and I intend to do so to reclaim the Book." Peach took out a small salt-shaker and created two parallel lines of salt and silver from the Shadow Queen's binding circle into the middle of the room. She created a smaller circle around herself, smudged a part of the circle between the lines with her foot, and finally sent a small bit of magical force to smudge the Shadow Queen's circle at the other end of the path.

The Shadow Queen screeched and dissolved into purple dust, which rushed and swirled around Peach. Peach kept calm and surrounded herself with a prismatic barrier, impenetrable save for a small hole near her left hand. She placed her hand near the hole and allowed some of the dust to flow into her.

Peach immediately felt the hatred and malice of the ancient demon attempting to overcome and subsume her own consciousness. But she was prepared; she fortified her mental defenses with a psychic shield she'd learned from Rosalina, while at the same time channelling the Shadow Queen's spirit into the bracelet on her other hand. Once a significant portion of the Shadow Queen's power had been thus channelled, Peach opened her psychic shield just enough to form a telepathic link with the spirit inside the bracelet.

Peach again appeared on the balcony of the gothic Mushroom Castle. The skeletal knights that had previously been patrolling the castle were now in the courtyard fighting a half-formed Shadow Queen, who was swatting them away with its hands.

"Are you ready?" Grim asked. He was the same as before, a floating skeleton in an elaborate blue robe, but the pink parasol in his bony left hand was somewhat at odds with his whole aesthetic. Still, it beamed with pride as it looked at its master.

"Yes," Peach said. Her and Grim leapt down from the balcony and ran into the courtyard, flinging spells at the back of the Shadow Queen's head. The Queen turned around and launched a lightning bolt from the peak of its crown, but Peach reflected it with a Prismatic Barrier. Grim raised its hand, and giant skeletal snake-like creatures erupted from the ground and ensnared the Queen, while at the same time firing fireballs from their jaws at it.

"I will not be defeated here!" the Queen said as its hands vanished, replaced by several dozen smaller hands poking out of the ground. It directed its hands over to the skeleton knights, attempting to pull them into the ground, but the knights stopped fighting the Queen and focused on fighting the hands. Peach grabbed one of the Queen's strands of hair and used an Electric Light Overdrive, sending pulses of electricity and Ripple into its body. It didn't have quite the effect as on her physical opponents, but it was effective enough for Grim to slash it with an invisible blade of force projected from its parasol, cutting it cleanly in half.

More of the Queen's power appeared in the castle grounds, but Peach, Grim and the knights continued their assault, blasting it with spells and strikes of all sorts. The Queen tried to raise a counterattack by summoning more hands, but Grim added to their forces by summoning Medusa heads, which dive-bombed the hands and tore at them with their teeth.

Finally, the Queen could take no more. It gathered the remainder of its power within the castle grounds and charged it up in one final attack, a wave of darkness gathered in its coiled-up body. Peach grabbed Grim's parasol and created a Prismatic Barrier around the Queen, so that its final attack reflected upon it and shredded what was left of its body.

"You will not escape this realm," Grim said. It took the parasol back from Peach and created a massive curved blade of pink energy on one side of the canopy. The Queen shrieked in desperation and its naked spirit, little more than a cloud of purple dust, flew at the moon; but Grim's blade cleaved the spirit in two, finishing it for good. Grim raised its arms, and the remaining pieces of the Queen's body were absorbed into itself, increasing his size slightly.

"You're sure you can contain its power?" Peach asked.

"I am," Grim said. "In life, I was a Shinigami, one who was tasked with the proper movement and disposal of souls. Even as an echo of that being, I still retain enough of my former skill to contain this demon for as long as it takes for it to fully dissipate."

"Thank you, Grim," Peach said. "But if you run into any trouble, I'll help in any way I can."

"Your offer is much appreciated, master." Grim bowed as Peach disengaged the mental link between her and Grim's world, returning to her body.

Only the barest hint of the demon's malice remained in the altar room, but Peach cleared the rest of it away with a Mist White Overdrive that purified the room. The Shadow Queen was finally gone.

Peach walked over to the coffin and reached into it, removing the artifact she'd come to claim. It was a large dusty book, bound in white cloth, and with a turquoise comma-shaped jewel embedded in the front cover. Embroidered in gold above the jewel were the words "THE BOOK OF MINWU" in fancy cursive.

It was a spellbook, written by a great sage from another world, which contained the entirety of his world's knowledge of white magic, even spells developed after the book's scribing. It had somehow ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom, and had been used by another sage to summon the Shadow Queen, which had twisted the book's knowledge and magic to its own ill ends. The book was an initial vessel, a jumping-off point for the Queen to find a living body and truly manifest within the Mushroom World, but it had been defeated and sealed away each time it got close to finding a body; and now, Peach hoped, it was gone for good.

Peach quickly flipped through the book, and to her relief, the spells within were all still intact. She feared that it might have been wiped clean by the Queen as a final act of spite, but she doubted that it had enough power to affect the book in the final moments of its life. But it was fine, and as such, Peach used the Luma to teleport back to the Observatory.


	17. Battle Tendency, Part 8

The final month was dedicated to Peach focusing on synergizing her skills and coming up with strategies to fight potential enemies. However, as one might predict, there ended up being complications.

Peach was hard at work practicing her newly-acquired spells on the Comet Observatory's upper deck. She had split her biomass into seven smaller bodies, and was using each of them to cast a single spell over and over again. The Book of Minwu was lying open near her main body (as always, marked as such by wearing her brooch), turned to a page detailing an effect called "Haste", which would increase speed and reaction time – perfect for fighting Meta Knight, especially considering some of the other effect she'd learned from the book.

It was in the midst of practicing the Haste spell that the cream-coloured Luma that had served as her faithful companion floated over to her. Though they couldn't speak the same language, Peach had learned to interpret its body language well enough; and right now, it was concerned and telling her to go see Mama.

"Okay, Luma. I will be there right away." Peach's bodies merged into a single, adult form, and she floated down to the lower deck of the Observatory where Rosalina was waiting. She seemed quite worried, which Peach noted was out-of-character for her.

"I have bad news," Rosalina said, gesturing to the screen behind her. The screen displayed a model of the Mushroom Stellar System, with the Observatory marked as a blue dot just beyond the outermost planet – but there was another dot, a red one that was rapidly moving toward their current position.

"What is it?" Peach asked.

"An Apex city-ship," Rosalina said solemnly. "They're meant to be diplomatic ships, but they're still armed with enough soldiers and weapons to raze an entire planet to the ground. And… it's larger and more elaborate than the standard city-ships, so it's likely a flagship of one of the Gods of Apex."

Peach removed the device Meta Knight had given her from her pocket, but it was still inactive. "I don't think it's Meta Knight. He seemed to be a person of his word. So who else could it be?"

"There are three Gods of Apex," Rosalina said. "Meta Knight is the Warrior-God, in charge of strengthening and preparing the army. There's also the Love-God, who is in charge of diplomatic missions. And then there's the Over-God, the founder and leader. I'm afraid I don't know anything about the names or abilities of the other two Gods."

"Probably the Love-God, then. I doubt someone who calls themselves the 'Over-God' would involve themselves in routine diplomatic missions," Peach said. "Are you able to send me over to their city-ship?"

"I can, but are you sure you wish to engage them by yourself?"

"I'll try and reason with them first. If that fails, then I'll defeat as many as I can before I escape." Peach split off her biomass into two smaller infant-sized bodies, and the bracelet around her wrist expanded into Grim, her oddly-named magic parasol. "I'm ready to go as soon as you are."

Rosalina created an impromptu Launch Star with her magic wand. "Good luck, Peach."

Peach stepped into the Launch Star and blasted off. She flew a comparatively short distance through space, with the Apex city-ship quickly coming into view. She wasn't sure what to expect of something called a "city-ship", but the structure before her was quite literally a flat metal platform with engines on the bottom, on top of which was a city, with skyscrapers in the middle, businesses and factories in the middle, and residential homes on the outer edge. The entire ship was made of the same uniform dull grey metal, lacking any sort of colour or extra decoration. She supposed that was a good metaphor for their goal – complete, uniform sameness throughout the entire universe.

There was a dome-shaped force field protecting the city-ship, but a Force Barrier focused around Grim's canopy allowed her to slip right through it. She landed on the outskirts of the city, in one of the suburban areas. Just as she expected, the roads were laid out in a perfect grid, with equal amounts of identical houses and apartment complexes placed evenly between. Efficient, sure, but to a cold, impersonal degree.

While wondering what to do and where to go, the doors of all the houses opened at the same time, and identical robot-like creatures emerged. They were tall and lithe, resembling lightly-armoured knights, wearing helmets with a flat top and a single vertical slit down the face. They had little wing decorations on each side of the helmet and on their ankles. Rapier-like swords hung from one side of their hip and a long-barreled pistol holster hung from the other. They bore the same symbol Meta Knight had on their brows: a black circle with a line down the middle, set within a golden triangle.

Peach was willing to bet that these were the "Knights of Apex" that Meta Knight had mentioned. Each Knight deployed two straight horizontal bars from their backs, even with their shoulders, with blue globes on each end. About half of the Knights drew their guns and flew into the air, accompanied by the globes on their 'wings' glowing, while the other half drew their swords and rushed Peach en masse.

Robots, huh? Peach had fought a few before, not including the cyber-vampires at Sandwide Station, but not quite this many at a time. They looked a bit frail, so Peach began the fight by having her 'option' bodies (Polari, the black Luma at the Observatory, had dubbed them that) cast Magical Force spells targeting the robots' joints. The Knights took the blows admirably, barely recoiling from the repeated blasts of force, but Peach followed up with a variant of her force spell: a sideways push that knocked a group of earthbound Knights to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Peach's options then used two spells she'd learned from the Book of Minwu: "Haste", which increased her physical speed and perception, and "Saber", which increased her physical strength. The Knights seemed to slow to a crawl as the Haste effect kicked in, giving her a bit of time to ponder. They were resistant to force, but perhaps they could be cut up?

The heart-shaped blue gemstone on the tip of Grim the parasol lit up, emitting a beam of pink energy that coalesced into a sword-like blade. She ran over to one of the Knights and sliced its head clean off in a single stroke, but this didn't seem to do anything to stop it. So she continued by slashing it through the waist, severing legs from torso in another stroke; the blue globes on its wings kept its torso suspended in midair, and even as Peach cut those, it still reached for its gun while falling to the ground, forcing her to sever its arms as well. This finally seemed to be enough damage, and the Knight went inert.

Peach changed the parasol's blade into a blunt hammer head, then swung it at a second Knight and impacted it in the chest. The Knight went flying back, its dented chest armour revealing a surprisingly human-like anatomy with a ribcage and mechanical duplicates of internal organs. Those seemed to be vulnerable, so she continued her hammer rampage, sending Knights flying every which way.

Meanwhile, her options were taking on the airborne Knights by throwing flying, homing Heart Bombs at them. The Heart Bombs were less effective than Peach's Saber-enhanced hammersol, since the Knights were smart enough to drop or ascend as soon as the bombs went off, but the continuous explosions allowed them to deal a little bit of extra damage to other Knights who flew near them. The Knights were surprisingly agile in the air, but their pistol shots weren't even able to pierce Peach's skin, so she wasn't too worried about them.

The earthbound Knights, on the other hand, were slightly more dangerous, as they incorporated grapples and throws alongside quick rapier thrusts, and their complete lack of a survival instinct allowed them to jump on Peach's back and attempt to hold her in place for their compatriots, even after she'd demonstrated many times that she could disable them with an Electric Light Overdrive through even the lightest skin contact. The city-ship didn't have an atmosphere of any sort, so she used her Ripple sparingly.

Eventually, she'd whittled down the army of Knights from a couple hundred to about a dozen. The remaining airborne Knights all descended to the ground and drew their swords, but Peach had wasted enough time. She and her options threw fireballs at the remaining Knights' wings, blowing out the blue globes on their wings, and used her own flight spell and simply flew away. The Knights chased after her on foot, taking potshots at her with their pistols, but they were easily ignored.

She needed to find the captain of this ship, whether they be one of the Gods of Apex or otherwise, but she had no idea where to look. Her intuition told her to look on top of the highest tower in the middle of the city, but that seemed too obvious. And trying to search every building would take too much time, and she had precious little of that already. On the other hand…

Peach renewed her Haste and continued flying towards the center of the city. More flying Knights of Apex appeared to stop her, but she held Grim out and put up a wide Force Barrier around herself, pushing the Knights harmlessly away as she flew by. She landed on top of one of the skyscrapers (sure enough, none of them seemed to have any defining features), and she and her options released a huge cone of light magic pointed upwards.

"My name is Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom," Peach said, magically amplifying her voice. "I have come to speak with the captain of this vessel. I have no desire to harm you or your soldiers, but I will continue to defend myself if necessary."

The swarm of Knights of Apex immediately stopped in midair. One among their number, identical to the rest save for the triangular badge over its heart, came forward and landed in front of Peach.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Princess Peach," it said, its voice feminine and somewhat airy. "I would be glad to speak to you. Please follow this unit to my Domain."

It was a trap. It was so obviously a trap that Peach was impressed at how unabashedly blatant it was. But still, it might lead her closer to the source of that voice, whoever it was, and she was at least somewhat confident that she could escape from any trap they put her in.

The Knight took off, and Peach followed. It led her toward the north edge of the city-ship. They landed in what appeared to be a commercial district, near a building that looked quite at odds with the surrounding city: it seemed to be made of gold, for one, and it was irregularly-shaped and its façade jutted out at odd angles. A triangular wall stood around the building, with three pillars covered in glowing lines and symbols standing at each vertex; the general aesthetic suggested that this was not a happy place.

As they landed, a section of the wall vanished in a way Peach couldn't quite describe, almost like it was folding away into some sort of alternate dimension. "Please enter," the Knight said, gesturing toward the building's front door. Peach had her reservations, but she cast a few protective spells and stepped inside.

Sure enough, the wall reappeared as soon as she was inside. The pillars activated, projecting some sort of roof that blocked everything from the outside, rendering it pitch-black within. Peach felt the gravity intensify, pulling her body toward the walls where she would no doubt be crushed into nothingness.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Peach said as she reappeared outside of the black dome. She threw a Heart Bomb at one of the glowing pillars, destroying it and causing the dome to dissolve near-instantly.

"How did you-" the Knight said, opening the walls again and noticing the extra Peach, followed by two more options, still within.

"I'm not that gullible," Peach said. She waved her hand, and the now-semitransparent Peach near the building vanished into thin air. She'd combined two more effects she'd learned from the Book of Minwu: "Blink", which generated intangible copies of the caster, meant to confuse and distract their enemies, and "Vanish", which hid the user from sight. "You led me into a trap after giving me an implicit word of safe passage. I don't know what your standards of decency are, but from where I come from, that is very bad form."

The Knight bowed to her. "I apologize for the deception, Princess. But you must understand that my time is precious, and I cannot afford to indulge every last entity with a grudge against the Apex. But you have outwitted this trap. As such, you are worthy of my time."

"It also means that I have no reason to trust you anymore," Peach said. "I have come here to stop your ship from attacking the Observatory and my home. I would prefer to resolve this diplomatically, but if you betray my trust again, I will destroy this ship and everything on it. Do you understand me?"

"I do, Princess. I swear to you that by my honour as a God of Apex, I will speak nothing but the truth from now on."

The Knight again beckoned toward the door, which swung open. Peach – the real Peach this time – continued onward.

So this ship was run by the third of the Gods of Apex. No doubt they were hiding in some bunker somewhere, controlling the Knights remotely and plotting against the intruder in their midst. Peach didn't believe for a second that the Love-God was trustworthy; even if they were bound to that oath, speaking nothing but the truth wasn't the same as not lying, a fact she'd learned quite well over the years. But Peach would play their game for now, at least until they cheated again; then she'd stop holding back.

The interior of the asymmetrical gold building was nothing like its exterior; indeed, it was the same dull metallic gray with exact proportions as the rest of the city-ship. The only distinguishing feature was a glass cylinder with some sort of platform within in the center of the room; the front half of the glass tube folded away as Peach approached. After a moment of pondering, Peach left one of her options in the room, and she and her other option entered the lift. The walls reappeared, and the lift flew down into the dark bowels of the ship.

The lift stopped about a minute later, and Peach emerged into a boxy, featureless corridor illuminated by the occasional red lamp on the ceiling. With no other options, she continued onward, keeping her parasol at the ready. The corridor was thankfully short, and opened up into a much larger open space filled with all sorts of odd-looking machines, conveyor belts and uncovered pools of molten metal. The distant sound of hammers pounding against metal, synchronized with the motion of the machines, gave the place an almost musical rhythm.

Another Knight of Apex approached her. This one was quite different than the flying models above; it was shorter, stockier and had thicker armour, with four arms, each of which seemed disproportionately long compared to its size, and a simple bucket-shaped helm with beady black eyes and a scowl sculpted on. It gestured to the back of the factory, toward the source of the hammer sounds.

"So, we have a live visitor!"

At the back of the factory, surrounded by four golden blowfish-like smelters attached to the walls, was a large robotic figure with googly eyes and an overbite. It had a large head and red-mitted hands, but thin arms, no neck and no legs. It struck its hammer, which was larger than Peach, on the bronze table in front of it, cooling and shaping a blob of molten metal into another one of the four-armed stocky Knights. It lacked the red cape, crown and gold star on its chest (and for that matter, the voluminous white beard), but Peach was able to recognize this robot all too well.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you again," Peach said. "You were the one that notified the Apex of the Mushroom World, weren't you?"

"I'm sorry, but we've never met," the robot said, its voice deep and booming. "Have you perhaps met another unit?"

"Another?" Peach said. "You're not unique?"

"There were one hundred Smithy units produced originally." Smithy held up the back of its left hand, showing an imprint of a series of odd symbols. The majority of it was indecipherable even to the Luma, save for the number "20" near the end. "Do you recall the model number of the other unit?"

"No, I don't. I was too busy fighting for my life to look at the back of its hand."

"You were fighting it? Did it attack you first?"

So Peach gave the robot a quick rundown of her previous encounter with a Smithy unit. In short: a group of robots calling themselves "the Smithy Gang" invaded the Mushroom World and sent out their agents to cause general mayhem and collect the pieces of the shattered Star Road for their own purposes. Mario, Bowser and herself, along with a prince of Nimbus Land and a spirit from Star Haven, teamed up to counter and eventually defeat them, though the battle had taken its toll on both the Mushroom World and its people. (It also made Bowser aware of Star Haven, which led to another scheme down the road, but that was largely irrelevant.)

"And you're sure that was a Smithy unit?"

"He called himself Smithy and looked almost exactly like you. So yes, I'm quite sure."

"How strange. None of the original Smithy units should have that sort of ambition. It may have been damaged, or perhaps it was a flawed copy of some sort. Either way, it was likely best that you stopped its abnormal behavior."

"And I apologize for destroying one of your kin," Peach said. "But it sounds like you think it's impossible for a Smithy unit to go rogue. Don't you have free will?"

"That question is too complex to properly answer. To put it simply, our defining directive is to construct machines in the service of a master, and while we have freedom in some areas, we cannot choose who we serve."

"It doesn't bother you that you're essentially a slave?"

"I do not consider it slavery. My purpose is to construct machines, and the Apex is always in need of more Knights. It is an arrangement that benefits us both." One of the smelters belched a stream of molten metal onto Smithy's forge, and he again swung his giant hammer to create another Knight. "In any case, what brings you here?"

"I have business with the Love-God," Peach said. "Do you know where I can find them?"

"Oh, of course. The door to the Love-God's Domain is over there," Smithy said, gesturing with his free hand to a door to the right bearing the same symbol of Apex that Meta Knight and the Knights of Apex wore. "But before you go through, would you be willing to indulge me for a moment? You see, I've been producing a new type of Knight for the Warrior-God's army, but I haven't tested them in battle yet. Would you do the honour?"

"I'm guessing the door won't open until I do this for you?" Peach asked.

"That's right." The entire factory seemed to fold away, leaving Peach, Smithy and ten Knights of Apex standing in a flat, featureless plane of bluish-gray stone lying underneath a many-armed spiral galaxy. The Knights were a bit different than the two types she'd seen so far: they were nearly as big as Smithy himself, with six arms each with a different appendage and four legs without feet, instead ending in blue globes similar to the Airborne Knights' wings. They were heavily armoured and equipped with force fields of some sort, and they wore helms with large forward-facing horns and V-shaped faceplates, with blue light emanating from the gap between.

The ten Knights streaked off in different directions, attempting to attack Peach from all sides. She renewed her Haste and added two more spells on top: "Protect", a shield that wrapped around her that would protect against physical attacks, and "Shell", the same but against magical attacks. They weren't quite as effective as her Barriers, but she also didn't need to constantly sustain them, so they would help in the event of a surprise.

Even with Haste on, the Knights were moving quite quickly, so Peach took the offensive by firing a pink laser from her parasol at the closest one. The beam simply fizzled out upon contact with its personal force field, so Peach flew toward it, creating a thin spear-like tip of energy on Grim's gemstone, and thrust it into the Knight's torso – but like the beam, it just vanished upon contact with the force field. The Knight reached for her with its single hand, while at the same time stabbing and shooting her, as well as defending itself with its knife, gun and shield arms respectively. The Protect and Shell spells did their jobs, lessening the impact of its knife and shot, while Peach grabbed its hand and sent an Electric Light Overdrive through it, sending the single arm – but only the arm – into a convulsive fit.

The other Knights all began firing large-caliber bullets from their gun arms, but Peach's remaining option generated a Hexagon Barrier behind her, absorbing the kinetic energy of the slugs and storing them for later. Peach tested out a theory by shaping the energy spear on her parasol into a sword and attacking the Knight's wildly-flailing arm, successfully severing it in one stroke. She then dismissed the energy construct altogether and simply thrust the tip of her parasol into the Knight's chest, striking it but doing no damage.

The force field seemed to nullify magic, or at least heavily weaken any offensive spells in its range. It only covered the Knight's torso, head and shoulders, but she was willing to bet that its core consciousness was contained within. The problem was that most of Peach's heavy-hitting attacks were magical in nature, and she doubted that she could smash through its armour with her bare hands or even her parasol. But she wasn't out of tricks just yet.

After applying another Saber effect, Peach flew beneath the Knight and smashed the globes on its legs with her parasol. The Knight fell to the ground and immediately toppled over, but just barely stabilized itself by ejecting the damaged globes and creating new ones by 'folding' them in. But it was distracted long enough for Peach to grab two of the Knight's arms and, with her Saber-enhanced strength, swing it around a few times and chuck it at one of the other Knights. They all moved out of the way of the thrown Knight, but the Sensory Bombs attached to its wrists detonated as it flew by, washing the entire area in dazzling light, high-pitched squealing and a horrible smell.

Peach was quite proud of her Sensory Bomb spell, though she wasn't sure how much the Knights would be affected by loud noises and bad smells. But as always, they were a distraction, meant to give her enough time to put her real plan into motion.

"Grim," she whispered, creating a telepathic link between her and her parasol. "Grim, can you hear me? I need you to change a bit."

A moment later, her parasol transformed into a giant war-hammer, its head pink and decorated in frill-like patterns, and its handle still white and curved in the shape of a heart at the end. While Peach did prefer the parasol form for its defensive ability and energy constructs, she needed pure offense right now. She flew toward one of the stunned Knights and smashed it in the chest with her hammer, carving out most of its torso and sending the remains careening into another Knight, heavily damaging that one as well. With the last of the stealth her Sensory Bombs afford her, Peach then threw her hammer forward, aided by a Magical Force spell directing it into another Knight. It was smart enough to get out of the way, but she redirected the Magical Force at the last moment, causing the hammer to spin around and smash into the Knight's back, smashing right through its chest and nearly severing its legs from its torso.

That was three down, but there were still seven elite Knights left, and they would no doubt take measures to protect themselves from the attacks that felled their comrades. Grim's war-hammer form, though powerful, was heavy and slow in melee combat, and they could likely counter it in straight-up melee combat, so she would need to disable them in another way.

Peach used a Blink spell to create a dozen doppelgangers, all of them flying off in different directions. The Knights switched on their infrared vision, but all of them had a heat signature. So they fired at each copy with their gun arms, systematically dispelling them with each hit, but one of them had the foresight to fire at Peach's former location in case she'd disguised herself with Vanish; and sure enough, the bullet ricocheted off of seeming thin air. Two of the Knights charged the spot and stabbed at it with their knives – only to set off a disguised Heart Bomb, which exploded and damaged, but didn't fully disable, the two Knights.

After the last Blink copy was eliminated, the remaining Knights spread out and swept the area, firing their guns in random directions in an attempt to detect her. While one of them had its back turned, Peach's option latched onto its back, struck it with an Electric Light Overdrive, and finally stuck a Heart Bomb to it – but its null-magic field dispelled her buffs, leaving her vulnerable to the rest of the Knight's bullets. The infant Peach unfortunately did not fare well against the repeated and focused dakka, and was quickly reduced to a large cloud of biomass.

The convulsing Knight reached for the Heart Bomb on its back, but the bomb was set to detonate on touch, and the close-range continuous explosion reduced most of its body to slag. The real Peach appeared behind another Knight's back and unleashed the kinetic force she'd absorbed with her Hexagon Barrier in a single shot, sending it flying into the distance with heavy damage. She Vanished and Blinked several copies again, but the Knights managed to score a couple of hits on her before she faded from sight.

Four Knights were left, two healthy and two damaged, and Peach was running out of tricks; they were learning as she fought against them, so they'd likely be able to counter it if she did the same thing twice. She'd likely be able to take the two damaged ones if she picked up Grim again, but she didn't want to get shot again by the other two – the bullets were only strong enough to destroy a small amount of her biomass, but they had enough force to scatter it all over the place, and she didn't have the time to gather it up. As it stood, she was shorter and slightly less muscular than she had been at the start of the fight, and she'd be forced to shrink even more if they kept hitting her.

Peach mentally listed off the other spells she'd learned from the Book of Minwu, but most of them focused on altering the target's perceptions, and she doubted they'd work on robots. She'd learned a couple of offensive spells as well, but the Knights were still protected by null-magic fields, so she'd only be able to damage their arms. If only she could circumvent their null-magic fields-

Wait, she _could_. Or at least she hoped she could.

A few seconds later, Peach threw off her Vanish while simultaneously putting up a Hexagon Barrier in front of her. The Knights, recognizing the hexagonal patterns and their effects, quickly circled around her to fire at her from the back; this was the cue for a Peach option to appear behind them and throw several spikes of chitinous material at each of the Knights with enough force to embed themselves in the Knights' backs. Both Peach and her option Vanished again, and the spikes turned into gelatinous goo and snaked their way inside the Knights' bodies.

Peach felt the pulse of magic within each of the Knights: weird magic, quite unlike her own, but very similar to the machines she'd seen at Sandwide Station. But it was magic nonetheless, and thus would be disrupted by the null-magic fields surrounding their bodies, so they didn't affect the Knights' internal workings. The null-magic fields would dispel any lingering magical effects on any objects that entered their bodies, but once within, Peach was free to pump each spike full of more FP via her psychic connection.

The Knights all stopped as they felt Peach's biomass squirm through their bodies. One of the Knights tore at its own chest in an attempt to get it out, but the exposed wound only left its internals vulnerable to its own null-magic field, dispelling the magic that kept it going and knocking it offline. The other three Knights ignored the building pressure in their bodies and turned to fire at Peach, who had put up her Hexagon Barrier again and intercepted their bullets easily

Finally, once enough FP had built up, Peach used the combined biomass in each of the Knights' body as a focus for one of the Book of Minwu's few offensive spells. Streaks of blue-white energy shot out from the Knights' visors and the globes on their feet, and they flailed and struggled as their bodies visibly expanded before exploding in a shower of light and pearlescent spheres. The spell was called Pearl, and true to its name, conjured dozens of holy-imbued pearls to strike an enemy from above – or in their case, from within. And with that, each of the ten elite Knights had been destroyed.

Peach tried to gather her biomass together, but she failed her fortitude save and fell to her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach on the rocky plane underneath. She'd done something similar before, to a vampire on Sandwide Station, and it'd been horrifying there as well, but this time, she'd intentionally infected them with her own biomass, then used it to explode them from within. And the way they'd struggled before their inevitable end… it was _sick._ Sick and wrong.

And Peach hadn't even given it a second thought before doing it.

Memories of the atrocities she'd committed flooded her mind: throwing Luigi off of the airship after pumping Ripple into his guts, killing an entire country of vampires and zombies in one shot, digesting Kars to the last cell, exterminating thousands of Space Pirates to defend her home…

What had she become?


	18. Battle Tendency, Part 9

"Impressive!"

Smithy 'folded' back onto the battleground. He looked over the wreckage of the elite Knights of Apex with a certain sense of glee, though his face wasn't quite able to reflect that.

"Yes, quite impressive! I knew you were powerful, but I honestly didn't expect you to be so crafty. That last trick you pulled, blowing them up with magic from the inside, was quite inventive."

"No it wasn't," Peach said. She conjured a bit of water and washed the taste of bile from her mouth. "It was terrifying. I know that they were just robots, but-"

"It's fine. They were just robots, and prototypes at that! They were made to be expendable!"

"Just… just open the door to the Love-God already," Peach said, pushing her negative thoughts into the little compartment of her mind that held such things.

The rocky plane folded away, leaving Peach and Smithy back in the city-ship's foundry. Smithy waved his hand, and the golden door swung open.

"No doubt the Love-God was impressed by that too," Smithy said.

Peach barely stopped herself from vomiting again as she stepped through the golden door. She was surrounded in blinding white light, and felt herself surrounded in an odd sense of warmth as something – or someone – pulled her deeper into the light, until it began searing her skin and singeing her hair-

And then it stopped.

Peach felt cool grass beneath her body as she opened her eyes. She appeared to be in a clearing of some sort, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest with no way in or out. The sky above was bright blue and slightly cloudy, but with no visible sun.

She got to her feet and looked around the clearing, but her eye was immediately drawn to the figure standing on top of a slight incline. She appeared to be a human woman roughly in her mid-twenties, though her hair was long and bright silver and her golden eyes carried the weight of many years within them. She wore a red tunic-like dress ending above her knees, black tights, dark brown boots, long black fingerless gloves and a blue scarf that draped nearly to her feet. Several songbirds were sitting on her outstretched arms and shoulders, and her humming and their chirping combined to create a beautiful song.

"Welcome, Princess Peach." The birds flew off as the woman looked at Peach. "I am Micaiah, Love-God of the Apex. It's a pleasure to meet you in the flesh."

"The pleasure's all mine," Peach said, trying to sound civil despite her inner thoughts. The two women shook hands, and through that, took a measure of each other; Peach could tell that she was very magically powerful, though unlike Rosalina, Micaiah's body was not merely a vessel for a greater power, nor was it being controlled remotely.

Micaiah smiled. "I see that you're quite shaken up about what you did to those Knights. But please don't worry too much about it. I can tell that you wouldn't even think of doing something like that to a living person."

Peach regarded her with suspicion. "You can read my mind?"

"I'm an empath; I can read your emotions through physical contact. Plus, I was watching your fight with the Knights remotely, and I saw how upset you were afterwards. I know we didn't exactly get off to the best start, but I want to assure you that I have nothing but sympathy for you, Princess."

Micaiah led Peach over to the other edge of the glade. A simple wooden picnic table sat at the edge of the trees; upon it was a platter holding a vanilla cake, decorated in white frosting with pink trim and covered in fresh peaches. A Knight of Apex with a feminine body design cut the cake into eight equal pieces, and placed one piece on a plate and handed it to Peach.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the stomach for this right now," Peach said.

"I understand." Micaiah nodded to the Knight, who put the plate down. "Perhaps later, then. I did a bit of research about you on the way here, and I found out how much you like cake, so I figured I'd make it a bit of a peace offering."

"You did research on me, huh? Do you feel threatened by me?"

"I heard about what you did to the Space Pirates and Sandwide Station, yes. I didn't want to underestimate you, so yes, I suppose I did feel a bit threatened." Micaiah smiled again. "But just like you, I don't have any particular desire to fight. We're both mature and diplomatically-minded, so we can use reason instead of force."

"I would like that. I've had my fill of fighting today." Peach eyed Micaiah, but couldn't get a good read on her; she seemed genuinely friendly, but there was still the matter that she was one of the top three members of the Apex, and that wasn't likely a position she'd gained by being pretty and friendly. "So why is the Apex interested in the Mushroom World? We're not exactly a hub of intergalactic travel and commerce or anything."

"I would disagree with that. We first heard about you after you and three of your friends single-handedly stopped a fellow named Count Bleck from destroying the universe; I'd say that alone makes you pretty significant. Plus, you've fought off three sets of alien invaders, went into the wider universe to assist the Comet Observatory, and gained the power of an Ultimate Life Form."

"Yes, I suppose so," Peach admitted. "But that also shows that we're more than capable of fending off the Apex if need be, so why waste resources attacking our home?"

"You seem to have some misgivings about the Apex," Micaiah said. "Though I suppose that's to be expected; each of the three Gods of Apex have different visions about what the Apex should be. And… well, I won't lie to you. The Over-God desires conquest for conquest's sake, and the Warrior-God only thinks about the next time he'll get to indulge his bloodlust. But I have a different approach."

"And that is?"

"Princess… I've visited many, many inhabited worlds over my lifetime. And barring a few exceptions, almost all of them have the same problems. War. Famine. Disease. Oppression. No matter the species, these same problems continue to plague civilizations the universe over." Micaiah looked deep into Peach's eyes. "But the Apex possesses the technology and magic to stop those things. Everywhere. Forever."

"You might be lying," Peach said.

"You know in your heart that I'm not," Micaiah replied. "I approach planets and offer them the tools to help them through diplomacy. In return, they agree to change things."

"In other words, you forcefully convert them to your way of thinking."

"No! We're not some oppressive one-universe order, Princess. We encourage creativity, emotion and free thinking. What We do is create a framework where everyone can reach the pinnacle of their abilities, without regards to class, war or other limitations."

"But-"

"Princess. You might think we call ourselves the Apex because we think We're superior to everyone else, but that's not it at all. What We do is bring everyone, everywhere, to the Apex of their potential. That is the reason for Our name."

Peach hesitated for a moment. She tried to bring up some rebuttal, some way to break down her entire argument, but… deep in her heart, she knew.

What Micaiah was saying was the truth.

"But… why do it by force?" Peach said weakly. "I've… Rosalina told me what you do to the planets you conquer. Your 'framework' guts so much of their culture that it's barely a shell of itself once you're done. Why? If you're claiming to be so altruistic, then why?"

Micaiah sighed. "…Rosalina is right. In some cases, the systems are so corrupt that We have no choice but to get rid of much of the existing framework to fit in Our own. I hate when it comes to that. I hate that We have to do that in the name of 'the greater good'. But… sometimes it's necessary."

"No! It's not necessary!" Peach shouted. "Even a corrupt world still has redeeming values! You're getting rid of everything, good and bad!"

"We've… I've tried just giving Our technology to worlds to let them do with it as they will. But in every single case, it simply enhances the problems already there. The rich take our Knights and wage wars with them, and use our medical knowledge to become immortal rulers, while the poor, the victims, the malnourished… they remain the same. But if We keep a close eye and guide the use of Our technology on other worlds, making sure that it's used by everyone and for everyone, then it's better for all."

"No… you're wrong…" Peach said, tears streaming down her face.

"Your idealism is a rare trait, Princess. I lost my innocence a very long time ago, and I've wished more than once that I could somehow reclaim it. But sometimes… sometimes, you have to do things that go against your moral code to help everyone else." Micaiah took a cloth from her pocket and wiped the tears off of Peach's cheek. "I know it's hard. I've lived through it countless times. But in the best-case scenario, the people of the Mushroom World will retain their culture as well as the Apex's skills, and nothing negative will come from contact with Us."

"I know… I know you can save everyone. I know that if I stop you…" Peach choked out the last few words, "then the victims of war, of starvation, of everything else… then their deaths are my fault. But… but even with that…"

"Even with that, you can't compromise," Micaiah said. "Then… if not for them, do it for yourself. Peach, I can understand your feelings… your fear, your despair, the suffering you've endured since gaining your new body. Every day, you slip more and more down the same slope as Kars, and you fear that it won't be long before you're as bad as he was. You think you're losing your humanity each time you shapeshift. But… Peach, We can help you. We can either teach you how to use your powers and retain your sense of self, or… if you don't want that, then We can put you back in a mortal body."

"You're telling me what I want to hear," Peach sobbed.

"No, I'm not. But…" Micaiah was crying as well. "But… the Over-God knows about you, and He has ordered me to… to make you join the Apex. And… His orders are not defied, ever. So…"

"So what?"

"I… I can rearrange how you think. I can make you want to join the Apex. I… *hic* I hate that I can do that. I wish I never learned how. I wish I could do it on myself, and make myself forget… Please, Peach. Please don't make me do it."

"I see." Peach's tears instantly dried, her despair replaced with anger. "I get it now. Anything that doesn't fit into your tidy little paradigm gets erased or changed, isn't that right? It doesn't matter if it's a single person, a world, or even the entire universe – it's not 'right' according to you, so it has to go."

"Peach!" Micaiah sobbed. "Please, Peach! Don't make me do this!"

"You don't have to do it!" Peach shouted back. "You're a human! You have the ability to choose what you can and can't do. And if this Over-God person wants you to do something you don't want to do, then you don't have to do it! Go against him, then! Fight him and stop him, so that you can stop changing things just because he says so!"

Every nerve ending in Peach's body exploded in pain. She collapsed to the ground, shrieking in pure agony, barely able to hold on to the shape of her physical form.

"I'm sorry, Princess…" Micaiah whispered, her tears coming out in torrents. "I'm… so sorry…"

Peach tried to come up with a coherent thought, a psychic defense, _anything_… but the pain blinded every other aspect of her. She was nothing but pain, a pain elemental, ignorant to everything but her own suffering.

But even above that, thoughts came. Thoughts not made from her own consciousness, but coming in from something, someone else. _Micaiah's right. We're not that different. The Apex coming to the Mushroom World is a good thing. It will help so many people. I don't want to stop it._

_I can regain my humanity. I don't have to fear myself. I can go back to my normal life, to Mushroom Castle, to my bed. I can forget everything that happened._

And then, abruptly, the pain stopped. Peach's body was little more than a flesh-coloured puddle of biomass, lacking any sort of identifying features or even the structure of a normal human being. She could still feel the echoes of the pain, so she was still alive, in a sense at least…

Micaiah knelt down near the Peach-shaped puddle of mass, and gently poked it with one of her fingers. "Peach… are you all right?"

The puddle wriggled in acknowledgement. Slowly but deliberately, the puddle reshaped itself, first into the general form of a human being, then slowly gaining focus, detail, textures, hair, eyes, nails, clothing…

Peach tried to get up, but her knees were still shaky. She instinctively reached out and grabbed Micaiah's hand, feeling her warmth, but also sensing the despair and loneliness behind it. She was old, much older than Peach, perhaps older than anyone else she'd ever known… and her spirit, her very essence, every inch of it was covered in emotional scar tissue from the terrible things she'd done in service to the Apex.

Micaiah helped Peach back onto the picnic table. She was muttering something that sounded like a chant, or perhaps a prayer, under her breath.

"My offer still stands," Peach said, her voice as shaky as the rest of her body. "We can take the Over-God on together. We can take the Apex back from him."

"No, Princess. That is not an option," Micaiah said. "You will not understand unless you fight Him directly… and no one who has faced Him has so much as bruised Him, nor have they walked away with their lives. He is immeasurably powerful. Even a hundred copies of you would barely qualify as a nuisance to Him."

"No one is invincible," Peach said. "We can find a way to defeat him, I'm sure of it."

Micaiah paused again, her eyes widening in fear after a few moments. "What? How are you…?"

"I noticed that your mental attack stopped when I dissolved into biomass," Peach said, "so when I recomposed my body, I made sure not to include a brain or any part of a nervous system besides my eyes. I'm now immune to that particular power, though I doubt it's your only trick."

"So you can control your body without nerves?"

"It's more difficult, but yes, I can manipulate my biomass at will." Peach got up from the picnic table. "See? I can overcome anything in my way. I'm sure that I can find a way to overcome the Over-God as well."

"No, you cannot. I refuse to give you any false hope, Princess." Micaiah got up as well. A cold wind blew through the glade as yellow-black clouds blew in from the west. "And… if you refuse to join us, then I have no choice but to eliminate you."

"Is that so? Do you think you have the power to defeat me?" Peach said.

Micaiah raised her hand, no doubt attempting to cast some sort of huge spell, but… nothing happened. She couldn't even feel the mana inside her. She felt… empty. "What…" Micaiah fell to her knees.

"It's called Silence," Peach said. "It's a spell that completely disables your ability to cast magic. The particular variation I used on you sustains itself by draining your own magic power, keeping you completely empty until I dismiss it."

"But I didn't even feel you casting it!" Micaiah said.

"I'm quite sneaky," Peach said. "I'm not the strongest being out there, Micaiah, but I'm willing to use every trick I know to help the people I care about. Even if… even if I do not particularly like that fact."

"But you're still not willing to compromise on the Apex contacting your world?"

"I don't need to compromise." Peach extended her hand to Micaiah, helping her up. "I've figured everything out. Once I defeat the Over-God, and you take over the Apex, you'll be free to slowly introduce Apex technology and magic to every world that needs it. You can keep guiding it if you want, but there won't be any deadlines, or any need to force it upon the unwilling. That way, you can keep the good while slowly getting rid of the bad."

"You're a fool…" Micaiah sobbed. "A fool and an idealist… You'll get killed if you fight the Over-God."

"If I fight the Over-God and die, then nothing will have changed, either for better or for worse. But if we fight the Over-God and win, then everything will change for the better." Peach wrapped her arms around Micaiah's shoulders and held her close to her heart. "It's a chance I'm willing to take, but I can't do it alone."

Micaiah sobbed into Peach's chest, unable to say a single word.

"I can help you, too," Peach said. "I felt the weight on your soul before… and I think you felt the weight on mine. We can't erase what we've done, but… we can try to make up for it."

The sky cleared up as the two women stood and held one another, silently bearing their dreams and fears to one another on a level deeper than a mere physical or emotional connection. They were kindred spirits, different in many ways but alike enough to understand that those differences only brought them closer together.

"Now then," Peach said, wiping hers and Micaiah's eyes with a handkerchief. Peach's eyes were red and puffy, but she was smiling. "That cake looks delicious. Why don't we have a slice?"


	19. Battle Tendency, Part 10

Peach and Micaiah folded back into the city-ship's foundry, using Apex technology that moved a person through the fourth spatial dimension to move tremendous distances almost instantly. The energy usage meant that there was a weight limit of about 200 kg at a time, and while things above that limit could be teleported in chunks, the ship itself had to use other means to travel around the universe.

"Greetings, my Lord!" Smithy said, saluting Micaiah as they walked into his forge. "Ah, and the Princess, too! So your meeting went successfully?"

"It did," Peach said, wiping a bit of cake frosting from the corner of her mouth. "Smithy, we intend on going against the Apex. Would you be willing to assist us?"

"Huh? My Lord, is that true?" Smithy asked.

"…Yes," Micaiah said. "The Princess suggested that the Apex could be more effective if the Over-God was overthrown. I'm still not sure if we can do it, but…"

"We can!" Peach said, clapping her hands together. "We'll find a way, I'm sure. We just have to keep thinking positively and use everything we've got."

"I am bound to you, My Lord," Smithy said. "So long as you wish to keep my services, I will follow you."

Micaiah smiled. "We'll need plenty of Knights if we plan on attacking the Throne, Smithy. So if you could produce, say, ten legions or so?"

"Twenty legions, you got it!" Smithy flipped a few switches on his forge and all four of his smelters roared to life, spitting a near-constant stream of molten metal onto his anvil. The deafening but harmonious clang of hammers and whirring machines started up again, audible even as Peach and Micaiah ascended back to the surface of the ship.

"Smithy's basically a tool with a personality," Micaiah said. "He doesn't have a sense of morality, per se; he just enjoys building things, regardless of what those things are or who they're made for."

"Yes, we spoke before I came to see you," Peach said. "It disturbs me a bit that he's so happy about what my people would consider slavery, but-"

"He's not a slave," Micaiah said adamantly. "I treat him well, and I've offered him compensation for his work, but he won't have it. And if he had any misgivings about going up against the rest of the Apex, I would have happily released him."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Peach said. "But… you don't seem all that sure about going up against the Over-God. I don't want to force you into anything you don't want..."

Micaiah sighed. "I'm not sure about it, because I have no idea how we can defeat Him. He's… I've only seen him fight once, against someone who was Meta Knight's equal, and… well, He defeated that guy with one attack. He vanished, reappeared behind the guy, and bam, his entire body was gone."

"So he has some sort of teleportation magic?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know how to describe it, but I don't think it was magical, and he wasn't just moving really fast. It was almost like he-"

A deafening explosion above them knocked the lift offline and threw both Peach and Micaiah into the void below. Peach activated her flight spell and grabbed Micaiah with one hand, while creating a dazzling ball in the other, revealing nothing but an infinite yawning darkness all around.

"It's okay, I can fly," Micaiah said, letting go of Peach's hand. Her own hands and feet were glowing with a soft golden light. "But what was that?"

Remembering something else, Peach assumed control of the other option she'd left in the building above. The infant Peach body was buried underneath rubble, but a burst of Magical Force cleared enough of it away for her to see what appeared to be a giant figure in black armour rampaging around the city-ship's surface.

"Follow me," Peach said as she flew above, using her option's magical presence as a beacon on the surface. "It looks like a giant Knight of Apex went berserk."

"Giant?" Micaiah said, sounding worried. "Was it covered in black armour?"

"Yes," Peach said.

Micaiah said something that the Luma was unable to translate, though Peach had an idea of what she was trying to express. "The Titan of Love," she said. "It's a giant Knight of Apex that Smithy made. It's a trump card against enemy forces."

"But what could have activated it? I didn't see anyone else on the ship besides you, Smithy and the rank-and-file Knights."

"I don't know either. But if it's attacking the ship, we need to destroy it."

Another blast of force broke through the metal floor, and they emerged on the ship's surface, right underneath Peach's waiting option. Most of the city had been destroyed by the rampaging Titan of Love, a nearly 100-meter tall Knight of Apex clad entirely in black plate armour with white accents along the edges, a billowing red cape and a silver-white sword of comparable size in its hand. The front of its helm flipped down, revealing what appeared to be a miniature star, and fired a beam of white-hot energy that took down the remaining skyscrapers in the center of the city.

Micaiah took hold of a black jewel-like object attached to the front of her scarf and held it to her forehead, growing increasingly agitated as the Titan continued its attack. "It's not responding to Smithy's or my orders to stand down," she said to Peach after a few seconds. "I've ordered the rest of the Knights to attack it, but it won't do much good… for that matter, you won't be able to harm it either."

"Huh? Why not?" Peach asked.

"It's been blessed by a god," she said, "and not a God of Apex or anything, but a literal, genuine creator deity. The blessing makes it armour immune to any attack imaginable – physical, magical, psionic, you name it – that's not also of divine origin."

"Oh, I see." Peach thought for a moment, and said "What about harming it from the inside, like I did to those elite Knights?"

"Divine magic plays by its own rules, so unlike the Knights and their null-magic fields, the blessing covers the inside too. Fortunately, my magic is divine too, so I should be able to harm it at least."

The golden glow around Micaiah's hands and feet intensified, and she picked up speed as she flew toward the Titan. Peach and her option followed, easily keeping up with her own, less flashy flight spell. "I thought you said you weren't an actual god?" Peach said.

"It's a long and convoluted story, but basically, I gained the blessing of a goddess, which gave me immortality and divine magic. But the Titan's blessing comes from another deity that the Over-God-" Micaiah swore again – "Damn it, the Over-God! He must've found out!"

The Titan's helm flipped open again, this time aimed directly at them. The bracelet around Peach's wrist expanded into its parasol form, and Peach put up an octagonal Prismatic Barrier over its canopy as the Titan fired. Her Prismatic Barrier was quite a bit stronger than it had been previously, thanks to yet another spell from the Book of Minwu, the aptly-named "Reflect" that gave it a tinge of blue light around its edge. The barrier reformed into a concave shape as the beam hit, collecting the immense energy at its vertices and reflecting it as several smaller lasers back at the Titan; but the lasers dissipated upon contact with the Titan's armour, leaving nary a mark.

Micaiah stopped in midair and held her hands above her head. The aura around her hands expanded outwards, taking the shape of a serrated disc of golden energy several times her size, which she threw at the Titan while it was recharging its face laser. The Titan reached for the disc with its free hand, almost seeming to want to back-hand it away, but the disc sliced through its palm and part of its arm like butter. Micaiah created several more discs and hurled them in succession, but the Titan was smart enough to slice through the rest with its sword.

Meanwhile, Peach kept flying toward the Titan, renewing her buffs (Haste, Saber, Protect and Shell) during the approach. She couldn't harm the Titan directly, but she could try to get it to harm itself, or at least stun it long enough for Micaiah to deliver a killing blow. As such, she split off two more options, had them cast Haste and Saber on themselves as well, and flew toward the back of the Titan's left leg.

They all shouted "Dark Hold Overdrive!" in unison, firing eight lengths of black chains from their hands at a spot below the Titan's knee. They flew around the Titan several times, generating more and more chain links and wrapping them securely around its leg. The Titan took notice of this and swung at them with its massive sword, but the Peaches flew forward and, with Saber-enhanced strength and their flight spells at full thrust, they managed to pull the Titan's leg up and off the ground.

The Titan lost its balance and toppled over, but the four large blue globes on its back fired up mid-fall, stabilizing it in midair. Its helm flipped open again, but before it could fire, Micaiah flew behind and fired dozens of golden lances into its back, destroying three of the four globes and throwing off its aim. Micaiah flew out from underneath the Titan as it fell, barely avoiding the fate of fitting nicely into a sandwich.

The giant robot's arms flailed wildly as it hit the ground, utterly levelling what remained of the city and nearly breaking the ship in half. The ship managed to barely hold on, but the impact had warped the flat square plane into a giant bowl-shaped crater, with the Titan lying at the deepest part. The impact also knocked the ship's force field, artificial gravity and lighting entirely offline, leaving Peach and Micaiah suspended in the dark void of space.

Peach reached out with her magic sense, locking on to Micaiah's presence a short distance away. She and her options flew over to Micaiah, whose entire body was covered in a golden aura; but the aura was faint and flickering, her mana nearly out. Peach grabbed her by the waist and pumped some of her FP into the aura, while at the same time getting the Luma to create a Launch Star that would take them back to the Comet Observatory to regroup.

* * *

After landing on the Observatory, Peach patched up both her and Micaiah's wounds with a quick Therapy spell and replenished the latter's mana with her own FP; a small amount of energy was lost through the conversion, but Peach's quickly-regenerating FP made that a non-issue.

Rosalina glided over to them from the front screen. "Welcome back," she said to Peach, "and welcome to the Comet Observatory, my lady."

Micaiah looked in awe around the Observatory. "The pleasure is all mine, Rosetta. I've heard tales of your Observatory, but it's far grander than I envisioned."

Rosalina's body tensed up and her warm smile faded as she eyed the new arrival with suspicion. "How do you know that name?"

"I am Micaiah, Love-God of the Apex," she said. "Well, former Love-God, I suppose. The Over-God's made it clear that He- er, he disagreed with my decision to go against him."

Rosalina turned to Peach. "Can she be trusted?" she asked.

"Yes," Peach said. "We've spoken at length, and as it turns out, we have a common goal in deposing the Over-God."

"I shall take your word on that, Peach," Rosalina said, "but regardless of your former position, I expect you to submit to my authority while on my Observatory, Love-God."

"_Former_ Love-God. Just call me Micaiah. And rest assured I have no ill intent towards you or your ship."

"Very well. You are free to access any facility on my Observatory at your leisure." Rosalina gave a curt bow and turned away, gliding back toward the screen near the Observatory's power source.

"I suppose that went as well as could be expected," Micaiah said. "But listen, Peach. The Titan of Love is going to come after us, sooner or later, so we need to get ready for it."

Peach glanced over at Rosalina's screen and, sure enough, the red dot formerly signifying the Apex city-ship was still moving towards them. "Hmm… well, I can't harm it directly, but I can replenish your mana to a degree; so why don't I act as a battery for your spells?"

"The Titan's smart enough to know that my spells can harm it, so it'll dodge or block anything I throw at it. But I suppose we could try quantity over quality… " Micaiah held out her right hand and slowly swept it over the horizon. "I'll let you know once I lock onto its signature."

Micaiah walked around the Observatory, scanning space with her hand to find the Titan of Love. Peach walked over to Rosalina, who was looking intently at the screen; a timer on the top said that they had less than an hour left until the Titan's arrival.

"I'm sorry," Peach said. "I shouldn't have brought her here. I knew you and the Apex are enemies, but I didn't even think of that…"

"Do not worry, Peach. I believe her," Rosalina said, still looking at the screen. "And… no doubt you're wondering why she called me Rosetta."

"No, it's okay. It seems like a sensitive topic, so don't feel obligated to tell me."

Rosalina turned to Peach. She swept the bang of hair from the right side of her face, revealing a tattoo over her eye – three golden triangles, one stacked on top of the other two, with her eye in the middle. The triangle in the bottom left was brighter than the other two, but not just by design: it seemed to be giving off a soft golden light. "I'm sure you've noticed by now, but this body is not the limit of my being. I have taken other forms in the past, and I usually use a different name for each one; 'Rosetta' was a previous form of mine, and one that I am not particularly proud of."

"Those triangles-"

"Look similar to the Apex's insignia," Rosalina finished. "In the distant past, I searched for a divine artifact known as the Triforce, which has the power to grant any wish. I did eventually find it, but the imbalance in my heart left me only this part, the Triforce of Wisdom. The other two parts were scattered across time and space; one part, the Triforce of Power, was eventually claimed by the Apex. The third part, the Triforce of Courage, is to my knowledge still lost."

"And you changed your name and body to safeguard the Triforce from the Apex," Peach said.

"Yes, but it seems I was not thorough enough. The Love-God knows me as Rosetta, which was my name at the time, so they are certainly aware that I still possess this part of the Triforce."

"And you were worried that she came to take it from you?"

"Yes." Rosalina turned back to the screen. "But I have magic enough to defend myself and the Observatory if the Apex attacks."

"Speaking of which, I'm ready to attack the Titan whenever you are," Micaiah said as she ran up to them. "Roset- alina, you're bound by the Code, right?"

"I am," Rosalina said. "But the Code does not stop me from defending myself from a large-scale threat. If you are able to defeat the Titan of Love, I will leave that to you, but I will intervene if I deem it necessary."

"I think we should be able to handle it," Peach said. "But it's good to know that we have a backup plan, just in case."

Rosalina smiled. "The feeling is mutual."

The three of them walked over to the Observatory's garage. Micaiah pointed at a random patch of the starry sky and said "The Titan's in that general direction. I don't think we'll be able to destroy it from this distance, but we should at least be able to soften it up before it arrives."

Peach nodded. "I'll provide you with as much mana as you need."

"Great. Just put your hands on my shoulders like we did before, and we'll be off."

Peach stepped behind Micaiah and put her hands on her shoulders, but Micaiah grabbed her wrists and moved her hands downwards, to the front of her chest. She tried to move her hands away, but Micaiah's grip kept them in place.

"It'll be more efficient than my shoulders," Micaiah said. "My mana comes from my heart, but you're going to be pumping a lot more energy than I'm used to into my body, and I don't want it that close to my vitals. These will work just as well, but I knew you wouldn't do it if I just asked you outright."

"This is hardly appropriate," Rosalina said, barely stifling her laughter.

"I concur," Peach said, her face bright red. "By that logic, couldn't I just touch your back?"

"It's for the sake of the Observatory and your world, Princess," Micaiah said. "Surely you can bear the embarrassment for their sake."

Peach sighed, but kept her hands in place and began to channel her converted FP into Micaiah's body. Micaiah held up her arms and chanted in the same untranslatable language as before; her hands started to glow again, but in a myriad of vibrant colours this time instead of merely gold. Dozens of rainbow-coloured spear constructs formed around them and shot off into space one after the other, each quickly replaced by another construct in the same place.

The assault continued for about half an hour. Micaiah constantly shifted her aim and changed up the size, speed and shape of her constructs, from spears and serrated discs to swords, missiles, grenades, or even monstrous silhouettes full of gnashing teeth and writhing, thorned vines. Peach kept up her FP-to-mana transfer, throwing in an occasional Therapy spell to restore Micaiah's stamina whenever she showed signs of fatigue.

"The Titan's been damaged, but it's still in good condition," Rosalina said as the two took a break.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that'd be the case," Micaiah said. Her face and hands were slick with sweat and she was panting heavily, but another Therapy spell pepped her back up. "Why don't we try something else then?"

"What do you have in mind?" Peach asked.

"We need more firepower. So this time, I'll cast a spell into you, and you can amplify it with your FP and fire it at the Titan. You should have a pretty good idea where it is by now."

"It's worth a shot, at least," Peach said. "But I would prefer you place your hands on my back."

Micaiah smiled. "Of course, Princess."

Her divine magic was different from Peach's own, but it was similar enough that Peach had no problem channeling and amplifying it with her own FP. She split off two options and channeled some of it into them, and they all cast rainbow-coloured variations of her Pearl spell at the general direction of the Titan.

They fired a few volleys off, but a white-hot beam of energy colliding with the Observatory's force field interrupted their attack. The Titan of Love flew up from underneath the horizon and fired another face laser, but Rosalina brought the Observatory's blue-tinged force field to full power, easily repelling the attack.

"The shields will hold indefinitely, but unfortunately, they'll block your spells from this side," Rosalina said. "You'll have to go outside the shields to continue fighting it."

"That's fine," Micaiah said. "Peach, you're able to manipulate your body at will, right? So give me a minute to prepare myself, then you can rearrange your biomass to completely cover my body, and we'll fight together."

"What?!" Peach said. "Listen, it was bad enough when I was touching your breasts, but this-"

"That's not necessary." Rosalina summoned another Luma, this one an orange-red colour, and pointed it toward Micaiah. "This Luma will protect you from the effects of the vacuum."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that we need to work together to damage the Titan," Micaiah said. "You probably think I'm some sort of weird pervert, but I only suggested that because it's the quickest way to get things done. If we just hold hands or whatever, it'll slow us down and make us a bigger target, and that's the last thing we need."

"No, I absolutely refuse to do that," Peach said. "It's damaged now, so I should be able to defeat it myself, even without divine magic."

"Please don't lie to yourself," Micaiah said. "Remember what I said at the city-ship? I can read your thoughts and emotions. And I know that you don't like shifting your body too far outside of a human shape. But listen, Peach… regardless of what you look like, it doesn't change who you are inside. You're human, and you always will be."

"You also invaded my mind without my permission and tried to convert me to the Apex against my will," Peach growled. "I know that you're trying to help me, but I will not defile myself in that way if it is not necessary, and right now, I can think of a number of ways to defeat the Titan without resorting to that."

Tears ran down Micaiah's cheeks, and she held back a sob. "I'm sorry, Peach… I was wrong, and I never should have done that. But I'm trying to help you, to make up for what I did-"

"Please stay here. I will take care of the Titan." Peach unfolded her parasol and flew upwards, toward a small hole in the shield that Rosalina had opened.

"She is not without her flaws," Rosalina said, handing Micaiah a handkerchief. "She is intelligent, but she is also stubborn and set in her ways. And as you said… she is afraid of her power."

"I know… that's why…" Micaiah dried her eyes, and gestured again to her breasts. "I figured that if I could get her to do something outside of her comfort zone, she'd be more willing to do it again later…"

"It will take her time, but she will change eventually. But do not pressure her too much, or she will simply push you away."

"Y-yeah." The red Luma shrunk down and took its place in Micaiah's hair, filling her body with its protective magic. She put the handkerchief away and flew after Peach, her hands and feet glowing brighter than ever.


	20. Battle Tendency, Part 11

Of course, she was right.

Peach _was_ afraid of what she'd become. She'd taken on the powers of the Ultimate Life Form in order to defend herself and her world, and she didn't regret doing it for a moment, but… she didn't feel comfortable in her own skin, especially when her skin could shift into nearly anything. She'd spent ten years politicking and rebuilding her kingdom, and practicing her magic and Ripple arts, all to distract herself from her fears. Other than creating options, she'd tried to limit her shapeshifting as much as possible, maybe in some vain hope that she'd simply forget about her powers if she didn't use them.

But Micaiah was right. She would be even more effective if she made use of all of her abilities… but that was part of the problem too. Especially now, after learning from the Book of Minwu, Peach was more of a threat than ever; and again, though she didn't regret gaining power and knowledge in order to stop the Apex from invading her home, she wondered what would happen to her if she mastered her shapeshifting as well. If she was successful in defeating the Over-God and the rest of the Apex, would anyone else be able to stop her? What would stop her from turning into the Apex and forcing her will upon the unwilling, or into Kars and slaughtering millions to achieve some goal?

The Titan of Love charged, its massive blade pointed right at her. Peach pointed Grim right back and put up the strongest barrier she could, stopping the Titan dead in its tracks. For a moment, just a mere instant, she considered dropping the barrier and letting it run her through…

_Peach._

Micaiah's voice echoed in her mind. Peach instinctively put up her psychic shield, though she doubted it would truly hold Micaiah back if she intended to harm her again. Just the thought of the pain she'd felt sent shivers down her spine; she knew Micaiah hadn't truly wanted to do it, that she'd also been forced to convert her if possible, but it wasn't a memory that would fade any time soon.

The Titan pulled its sword back. Peach dropped her barrier, generating a hammer of pink energy from the blue stone on her parasol in its place. She enhanced her strength with Saber and her speed with Haste and rushed at the Titan, but it blocked her with its free hand. She noticed a bit of armour missing on its palm and aimed for that, swinging her hammersol again and again at the weak spot, but the mecha didn't even flinch. Its hand closed around her, but she put up a Force Barrier around her body that pushed it away, giving her (metaphorical, of course; she was still in space) breathing room.

Peach tried to remember Micaiah's divine magic, how it had felt to cast it, but her attempt to conjure a few of her rainbow spears failed to produce anything at all. She zipped backwards as the Titan's hand closed again, this time focusing on a hole in the mecha's chest that went all the way through its body. It charged up another face laser and aimed right at her, but a Prismatic Barrier reflected the energy off into deep space.

_Peach, we need to work together to defeat it._ Peach felt Micaiah's magical presence somewhere behind her, but she was still quite miffed about that incident with touching her breasts. She'd known Micaiah was lying from the start – she was, after all, good at telling that sort of thing – but she'd done it anyways, if only because they were short on time. And despite her protests to the contrary, Peach could tell that she'd enjoyed it, if only a bit, even though it was a severe mood-breaker and quite inappropriate for the situation.

It was fine if Micaiah was attracted to her, but there's a time and place for that sort of thing, and trying to fight off a giant Knight of Apex with divine protection was not the right time.

The hole in the Titan revealed its inner workings, but it was quite different than what she'd expected. She looked up and saw a giant mechanical replica of a heart, which was pumping both a viscous black fluid and pale green energy throughout its body. Then again, didn't the regular Knights of Apex have surprisingly human internal anatomy? It seemed to her that a robot didn't have much use for a liver or a spleen, but then again, she didn't know much about robots – or for that matter, biology as well.

"Grim," she whispered; the lack of air in space meant that she couldn't speak properly, but the spirit within her parasol heard her just fine. She dismissed the hammer construct on the top of her parasol and pressed the gemstone against a metal surface. "Can you analyze the blessing on this, Grim?"

She remained in place, but in her mind's eye, she visualized the gothic version of Mushroom Castle and its keeper, the death spirit she'd nicknamed "Grim". The spirit, silhouetted by a pinkish moon, bowed to her.

"It is a powerful enchantment, yes… likely powered by a deity of some sort," Grim said, his voice paradoxically a death rattle full of life and warmth. "I lack the ability to dispel it."

"I see," Peach said. "But can you absorb a part of it, like you did with the Shadow Queen's soul?"

"I am afraid that is beyond my power, my master," Grim said. "The enchantment is bound to this automaton, and cannot be transferred to another source without the deity's permission."

His particular phrasing of that gave Peach an idea. "If I broke a piece off of the Titan, could I harm it with that?"

"I do not know for sure, but this enchantment protects it from non-divine means of harm, so that would be quite difficult if not impossible."

"What about its sword?"

Grim laughed. "Oh, of course, that would work just fine. Assuming you could wield such a thing…"

"Thank you for your assistance, Grim." Peach flew back out of her hiding spot, her eyes trained on the Titan's left hand and the massive silver-white sword it was holding. She also noticed Micaiah, a black silhouette against the Observatory's bright blue force field, throwing energy spears at the Titan's head.

Peach reached out with her telepathy. _Micaiah? Can you hear me?_

_Yes_, she responded. _Listen, I'm sorry about that plan before. I knew you were uncomfortable already, so I shouldn't have pressed it._

_No, I'm just as much at fault_, Peach said. _But I've got a significantly less squicky idea on to defeat the Titan, if you don't mind too much._

Rather than using words, Peach transmitted mental images of her idea through their link, creating a sort of psychic slideshow for Micaiah's benefit.

_I can work with that_, Micaiah transmitted back.

The Titan fired another face laser. Peach put up a dual Hexagon/Prismatic Barrier that reflected half of the light and heat back at the Titan's head, and absorbed the other half, converted it into FP, and projected it back towards the Observatory. Micaiah drew as much FP as she could from the stream of energy and mixed it with mana from herself, using both to create an enormous rainbow-coloured energy disc that she threw at the Titan's sword arm.

Despite being blinded, the Titan was well aware of Micaiah's disc; it had separate sensors to detect different types of energy, and though its visual sensors were temporarily overwhelmed, its magical sensors were still working fine. As such, it moved its arm out of the way of Micaiah's disc, and responded with finger beams from its other hand. But as always, Peach's plans had plenty of backups; in this case, she had thrown a few of her cells into the stream of FP, and Micaiah had incorporated them into the disc spell. This did little to nothing for its offensive power, but it did give Peach enough control to stop the disc mid-flight and adjust its course, namely right back at the Titan's hand. This time, the Titan didn't see it coming, and it cut right through its hand, severing it – and the sword – from the main body.

On cue, Peach's four options flew over and pried the sword from the Titan's cold, dead hand. The Titan fired another face laser at them, while simultaneously reaching for the sword with its other hand; Peach reflected the laser back with another mixed Prismatic/Hexagon Barrier, while Micaiah used a variant of Peach's Force Barrier to keep the Titan's hand at bay.

The Peach options took their positions on each side of the sword's hilt and, with some difficulty, brought the sword to a high position parallel to the Titan. Peach and Micaiah flew over to the sword and joined the options, and after casting a quick round of Saber and Haste on everyone, brought the sword down on the Titan's head. It futilely raised its other arm in an attempt to block the sword, but the six of them pumped their own mana and FP into the blade, giving it more than enough oomph to cleave right through the Titan's hand, arm, head and torso.

A figure cloaked in white-hot flame exploded outwards from the Titan's chest. For a moment, Peach saw something within – a humanoid being clad entirely in gold – but the figure continued toward deep space and vanished in record time.

_My god, that was…_ Micaiah transmitted through their link, though Peach also received feelings of confusion and anger.

_A creator deity?_ Peach suggested.

_Yes. The Over-God must've trapped it in the Titan to sustain its blessing of protection._

_It appears that the Titan is about to explode_, an unfamiliar voice transmitted to both of them. _I will contain the explosion, but I would advise that you both return to the Observatory._

Figuring that the other voice was Rosalina, Micaiah, Peach and her options all returned to the safety of the Observatory's force field. As they passed through, the force field faded and reappeared around the Titan's ruined corpse, and glowed brighter than the Sun for an instant as the Titan exploded.

Once the light faded, Peach realized that she was holding Micaiah tightly against her chest, her back to the explosion.

"…It was just light," Micaiah said as she looked up at Peach's eyes. "You didn't have to protect me or anything."

"It was instinctive," Peach said, but she didn't let her go. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn. We probably could have defeated the Titan quicker if we went with your plan."

"No, yours worked just fine." Micaiah smiled. "And I apologize for being so pushy. I thought I might be able to make you overcome your fears by force, but that was the wrong approach."

"I would hardly call 'touching your breasts' one of my fears," Peach said. "But uh, to put it bluntly… are you-"

"Attracted to you? A little bit, I guess." Peach let go of Micaiah, but the two women continued looking at each other. "It might just be narcissism, though. I see a lot of myself in you, Peach, but I also see a lot of my faults in you as well. You've embraced a lot of the feelings and emotions that I tried to push aside while in the Apex… and you're a much better person for it."

"If it makes you feel better, I've done my fair share of things I regret," Peach said. "But… I'm sorry, Micaiah. I don't… I don't think of you in that way. You are my friend and ally, but…"

"No, it's all right. That's another thing we have in common: we're both pining for lost loves." Micaiah tugged at the bottom of her scarf. "I lost the man I loved in a war a very long time ago. That… drove me to do things that he wouldn't have wanted me to do. Eventually, the Apex came to our world, and I joined them to make a difference in the wider universe… but I only committed even greater atrocities."

"I don't know if he would have agreed with my actions either," Peach said, wiping away a tear. "But I don't think we should dwell on the past that much. We've all done things we regret later in life, but we need to learn from them so that we don't make the same mistake again."

"That phrase was old when I was young," Rosalina said, having glided over to them. "Good advice, yes, but not exactly the most original thing in the universe."

All three women partook in a good round of laughter, temporarily pushing away the tragedies of the past and trials of the future to enjoy a brief respite of happiness in the present. Indeed, it seemed as if the moment was frozen in time…

Rosalina looked around, and noticed that both Micaiah and Peach were literally frozen in mid-laugh. She took stock of the Observatory, noticing first that the colours of everything within seemed to be washed out, but more importantly, that everything was frozen in time, excluding herself… and a shadow in the corner of her eye.

"So you've come," Rosalina said. "I'm surprised you've left me alone for so long."

The shadow before her grew and took a solid form. It was a man, an incredibly tall man with skin of a dark greenish hue, wild red hair and glowing golden eyes. He was dressed in black armour that appeared to be leather at first glance, but the pulsing red and blue lines along the seams and the odd rigidity of the plates gave it away as some unknown non-metallic material far more advanced than tanned cow skin. A red gem on his forehead bore the symbol of the Apex within, as did the center of his chestplate; on the back of his gauntleted right hand was a tattoo similar to the one around Rosalina's eye, but the other two triangles – the top and the bottom right – were both glowing.

"You've hidden yourself well," the man said, his voice deep and possessed of a certain self-aware malice. "Fortunately, My traitorous little Love-God led Me right to you, though she is no doubt unaware of that."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you of all people claimed the title of 'Over-God' of an organization called the Apex. Your ego was always much too large for your own good."

"Far from it; indeed, My ego perfectly matches My rank and level of power." The Over-God held up his hand, displaying the Triforce tattoo on it to Rosalina. "Would you believe that the Triforce of Courage almost literally fell into My hands? Its protector came to slay Me, but he was little more than a nuisance."

"And now you've come to claim the Triforce of Wisdom, and your wish," Rosalina said. "But go ahead, try to take it from me. My death will split the Triforce into a million pieces and scatter them across all of space and time. The universe will expire long before you can reassemble it."

"You're bluffing, Rosetta," the Over-God said, grinning wickedly. "Because you know that if you do go through with that, I will destroy your Observatory, all of your little Lumas, your homeworld, and everything else you hold dear."

"I consider that an acceptable sacrifice to keep the Triforce out of your hands," Rosalina said, but the slight waver in her voice gave her away.

"You would never let so many innocent lives perish to My hands, Rosetta. You know this, and I know this." The Over-God moved closer to Rosalina, who instinctively took two steps back for every step forward he took. "But I do not doubt that you have booby-trapped the Triforce in some other way. So let us make a deal. You will give Me the Triforce and remove any traps upon it, and in return, I will grant you anything you desire."

Rosalina spat at the Over-God's feet. "I would sooner throw myself into a black hole than accept charity from Ganondorf Dragmire."

The Over-God chuckled at the mention of that name. "It has been some time since I have been called that. But I have become more than that pitiful mortal name ever could have dreamed of. I am the Over-God, supreme ruler of the Apex, and I am a force greater than any other in the universe. Now hand over the Triforce, Rosetta, or I will see to it that you are subjected to fates worse than death until the last star goes dark."

"A better fate than living in a universe ruled by you," Rosalina said.

"We will see how long that nobility lasts."

Rosalina created a bubble-like spherical barrier around herself, but the Over-God dispelled it with little more than a wave of his hand. Thorned purple vines sprouted from his arm and wrapped around her neck, arms, waist and legs, its thorns digging into her skin and completely immobilizing her.

With one final laugh, the Over-God and Rosalina folded away. Colour returned to the Observatory, and time began to move once again.

"I've searched every nook and cranny of the Observatory, but she just isn't here," Peach said.

"As I thought. She would never willingly leave without letting one of us know first." Polari, a black Luma with blue eyes, was the oldest Luma on the Observatory and Rosalina's closest confidant and friend; in the wake of her unexplained disappearance, he'd taken charge of the rest of the Lumas and organized a search for her.

"But who would be capable of kidnapping her? I mean, she's pretty much untouchable while she's on the Observatory, right?" Micaiah said in disbelief.

"Perhaps it was the Apex?" Peach said. "You said that their folding technology had pretty much infinite range."

"The Observatory's protected against such things," Polari said. "We should've detected any attempted intrusion, but I've run every diagnostic I can think of and checked each camera three times each. And nothing. She was just…"

"Here one second, gone the next," Peach said. They stood in silence, contemplating how such a thing could happen; but Peach, thinking about a few comments and events that had happened in the past few months, started putting the pieces together.

"Micaiah, you were telling me that you've seen the Over-God fight, right?" Peach asked.

"It wasn't much of a fight. The other guy had defeated Meta Knight, but the Over-God just disappeared, reappeared behind him, and burned him to a crisp. It was over in a few seconds, probably less."

"And you said it wasn't magical or technological, or just him being really fast," Peach said. "I think I've seen something like that before, too, but it didn't occur to me until now what it really was." She turned to Polari, and asked him "Do you have access to Rosalina's contact list?"

"I do," Polari said.

"Do you think you could contact a man by the name of Jotaro Kujo?"


	21. Battle Tendency, Part 12

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Kujo," Peach said. Jotaro Kujo, a tall, muscular man of great strength and few words, stood before her.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Jotaro said. His tone was cool and professional, just as it had been at Sandwide Station, where they'd first met – although Peach suspected that he was a younger or alternate version of Koojo, the person who had taught her about the Ripple arts. Still, she got the feeling that despite his aura of indifference, he was a good man at heart.

A couple of Lumas floated towards them, carrying trays of food and drink. Jotaro grabbed a donut with Star Bit sprinkles from the tray and bit into it. "Hmm… honey," he commented. "It's been some time since I had something that tasted like proper honey."

"In any case, we want to hire you as a consultant for our upcoming task," Micaiah said, also grabbing a donut. "You'll be paid well, of course, though it might be a bit dangerous."

Jotaro finished his donut and washed it down with a glass of sparkling red juice. "Does this have to do with that knight guy at Sandwide Station?"

"It does," Peach said. "We believe that an organization called the Apex was responsible for both the incident at Sandwide Station as well as the kidnapping of Rosalina, the creator and captain of this ship."

"Wait, why do you think the Apex is responsible?" Micaiah asked.

"I'm getting to that." Peach waited until Jotaro finished his drink, then leaned in and looked him right in the eyes. "Jotaro, I'd like to know more about your ability to stop time."

Jotaro blinked. He dropped his empty glass, but one of the Lumas flew in and grabbed it just before it hit the ground. But his momentary lapse of composure faded just as quickly as it came, replaced by a stony gaze and deep scowl. "You figured that out, huh?" he muttered.

"I've seen super-speed and various forms of teleportation, but your abilities didn't quite match with any of them," Peach said. "There are other explanations, I'm sure, but I figured that a localized time-stop spell was the simplest."

"It's not a spell," Jotaro said. An invisible presence, identical to the one Peach had felt back at Sandwide Station, manifested above him. "Can you see it?"

"I can't see it, but I can sure feel it," Micaiah said. "That's a Stand, isn't it?"

The invisible presence faded slightly, but didn't go away completely. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I am Micaiah, former Love-God of the Apex." Micaiah bowed to him. "I've fought other Stand users in the past, but stopping time seems positively mundane compared to the abilities they possessed."

"It's considered bad form to reveal the abilities of one's Stand to another person," Jotaro said. "Only fools and braggarts do it. I am neither."

"We'll double your pay," Micaiah said.

"Triple it," Peach said. "And… I promise that this information won't leave the Observatory. I swear it on my honour as Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Jotaro looked expectantly at Micaiah.

"Yeah, I won't tell anyone either," she said. "Besides, if I really wanted to know the abilities of your Stand, I could just read your mind."

Jotaro chuckled to himself. "I was off by a degree of separation, but I was almost right about your mind-reading abilities, Peach."

"Please, Jotaro. There are a lot of lives on the line," Peach said.

"…My Stand's name is Star Platinum. It's a humanoid Stand that possesses above-human strength, durability and precision." The presence around Jotaro intensified, and this time, Peach saw the ghostly outline of an arm to the left of his head. "I once thought it had above-human speed as well, but I learned through practice that it is a limited ability to slow down time, and with further practice, I learned to stop it entirely for a few seconds at a time."

"So the time-stop has a limited duration?" Peach asked.

"I can handle about five seconds comfortably. If I push myself, I can go up to ten or fifteen, but I risk blacking out or serious injury to myself if I go any farther than that."

"And you're sure it's actually stopping time, right? You're not just accelerating your speed and perception?" Micaiah asked.

"There are a whole host of physics problems associated with super speed," Jotaro said. "For one, I would deliver much more force with my punches, enough to reduce both my arms and my opponents to mush on contact. There are also problems with friction, acceleration and deceleration, and others. Even if my Stand protected me from those effects, it has little reason to protect opponents in the same way. So yes, I am very sure that I am stopping time."

"I see." Micaiah pondered for a moment. "So let's assume that the Over-God can stop time too, either by another Stand or by some other method. We also have to assume that he has the Triforce of Power, so he can likely use it to stop time for a much greater duration. Can you think of any way to defeat someone like that?"

"I have never fought anyone else who could stop time, but it seems reasonable to me that two people who could stop time would be immune to one another's powers," Jotaro said. "Or at least, one could stop time before the other and defeat them before the effect wore off."

"But I doubt that's the Over-God's only trick," Peach said. "If he has the Triforce of Power, then he probably has supernaturally-enhanced abilities as well."

"And if he was able to bind a creator deity to the Titan of Love, he may have divine protection too," Micaiah said.

"And you plan on fighting this guy?" Jotaro said. "It seems to me that you'd be better off forgetting him and running away."

"No, we have to defeat the Over-God for the good of everyone in the universe," Peach said adamantly. "I'm sure we can find a way to defeat him, but the first point of order is getting around his time stop. Jotaro, do you know any way for us to duplicate Star Platinum's powers?"

"I don't know much about Stands, actually. I randomly developed mine after I left my home world, and I've read a few books about them here and there, but I don't know how one goes about developing a Stand or replicating its powers. I do know that a Stand is bound to a specific user's consciousness, and I don't think they're transferable."

"In that case…" Peach unfastened the blue brooch on her dress and handed it to him. "This is an Aja stone. I used it in combination with a mask to become what my enemy at the time called an 'Ultimate Life Form'."

"What do you want me to do with it?" Jotaro asked.

"I can replicate the Stone Mask and give you-" She glanced at Micaiah as well "-both of you the same powers. Jotaro, you'll be able to stop time for a much longer duration, and Micaiah, your divine magic will be greatly powered up. Then we'll have a better chance of defeating him."

"I'll pass," Jotaro said, handing the brooch back to her. "I'm happy with my strength as is. And if this Over-God is as deadly as you think, we won't beat him with power alone."

"Likewise," Micaiah said. "We can certainly keep it in mind as a last resort, but I think we need to fight smarter, not harder."

"…I suppose you're both right," Peach said. "And… well, I've had enough issues with my own power, and I wouldn't wish that upon either of you."

"Yeah," Micaiah said. "So, let's focus on overcoming time-stopping for now."

And so, for the next few weeks, the three of them went all across the universe, looking for a way to overcome the Over-God's assumed ability to stop time. Peach first consulted the Book of Minwu, and while it contained spells like Haste and Slow, those only altered the target's perception and physical speed, and didn't actually affect the flow of time itself. She then went to the Mushroom World and poured over as many magical tomes as she could get her hands on, but even those that contained so-called "time stop" spells worked identically to those in the Book of Minwu, freezing perceptions instead of time.

Even the Star Rod, an artifact that could itself grant wishes, was limited in this sense. As Eldstar, one of the honoured guardians of Star Haven, had explained, the Star Rod's influence ended at the edge of the Mushroom World's atmosphere; as such, it would lose its powers if brought beyond the threshold, and she in turn would lose any abilities it granted her.

Micaiah took on the task of meeting with Rosalina's contacts, both to find out more about time magic as well as to gather allies for the inevitable assault on the Apex's Throne. None of them could provide an effective means of countering the Over-God's abilities, but she did find out one useful bit of trivia: Rosalina was a being that existed partly outside of their universe's timeline, and thus would be unaffected by any "local" (that is, affecting only one universe) time-stop effect.

Finally, Jotaro set out to research Stands, largely for his own sake. He found out a bit more about their origins, and did find out that there were ways of transferring Stands between two people, but failed to find any specific way to do that.

But two weeks into their researching montage, while the three of them were recuperating on the Observatory after several long days of work, a timer expired.

As Peach was flipping through the Book of Minwu, trying to divine some way to gain more knowledge from it, she felt an odd burning sensation on her forehead. She reached up to feel whatever was causing it, running her hands over a cold metallic object that she definitely hadn't put there before. She ripped it off of her forehead, revealing that it was the mask-shaped device Meta Knight had given her – and its eyes were red and glowing.

Her three months were up.

Sure enough, as soon as she realized exactly what that meant, a loud alarm sounded across the entire Observatory. A small, armour-clad figure with a long dark cape folded in front of her: Meta Knight, the Warrior-God of the Apex.

"Greetings again, Princess Peach," Meta Knight said, bowing to her to the best of his ability. "You have been quite busy in these past three months, it seems."

"I have," Peach said. "And I'm confident that I can defeat you now. But I have a proposal for you, Meta Knight, one that you may find quite agreeable."

But before Peach could propose her proposal, Micaiah, Jotaro and a bunch of Lumas ran toward them. Meta Knight glanced at them quickly and dismissed them, but did a double-take and looked at Micaiah again.

"Hello, Warrior-God," Micaiah said.

"To you as well, former Love-God," Meta Knight responded. "I was aware of your defection, but I did not know you were working with Princess Peach… how interesting."

"I had a change in priorities," she said. "You're here to fight Peach, right?"

"About that," Peach interrupted. "Meta Knight, I heard from one of my sources that you consider yourself about on par with the Over-God, is that right?"

"Heavens, no. The Over-God is my superior in strength, speed and skill," Meta Knight said. "But that does not stop me from continuing my training, that I might one day overcome Him."

"So you don't have any loyalty to him or the Apex," Peach said. "Then why not join up with us? We all have the common goal of defeating the Over-God, but individually, we're not strong enough to challenge him – but if we team up, we might stand a chance."

Meta Knight shook his head-body. "You underestimate Him. He could defeat four of us just as easily as He could defeat one of us."

"But we know about his ability to stop time," Micaiah said, "and we've spent over half a month working to overcome that particular disadvantage. With a bit more time-"

"With a bit more time, you will die just as easily as you would with a hundred lifetimes of research. It is pointless to consider such a thing, because it is currently impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," Peach said. "But at the same time, I owe you a duel, so I will honour our arrangement. And once that's over, we'll go back to finding a way to defeat him."

"You have no doubt improved, but you will not win our duel." Meta Knight summoned his sword in a flash of light. "First, we will select our weapons. I choose my sword, the Galaxia."

"I choose Grim the parasol." Peach expanded her parasol from her bracelet.

"Very well. This will be a one-on-one duel – no outside interference of any kind will be tolerated. You may use your weapon, your body and any skills you possess, so long as they do not come from an external source."

"May I use my options?" Peach asked, splitting off two infant-sized Peaches from her back.

"They are a part of your body, so I will allow it, but you may not have more than two active at any time. Do you agree to this?"

"I do," Peach said. "I knew you said I wasn't cheating in our previous fight, but I would feel like I broke the rules if I pulled the same stunt again."

"Who is the overseer of the duel?" Micaiah asked.

"The Over-God," Meta Knight said. "He has expressed interest in watching you fight, Princess."

Which, Peach realized, likely meant that he was going to eliminate her even if she won the duel with Meta Knight. And judging by the look on Micaiah's face, she was thinking the same thing too. Even Jotaro's stoic façade let slip the slightest bit of concern.

"The arena has been prepared so that neither of us will have any significant advantages," Meta Knight continued. "The duel will end only when one of us dies. There will be no forfeiting or postponements. Do you agree to these terms?"

Peach nodded. "I agree to your terms, Warrior-God of the Apex."

The four of them – Peach, Meta Knight, Micaiah and Jotaro – stood in place as the Observatory folded away, leaving them standing in the center of an enormous metal arena. Rows upon rows of stadium-style seats, each filled with an inert Knight of Apex, lined three quarters of the perimeter around the flat circular plane; the last quarter was slightly raised, and held an elaborate throne with the symbol of the Apex floating above, shining brightly. Upon the throne was a man with dark greenish skin and bright red hair, wearing black armour and with two glowing triangles tattooed on his right hand.

No doubt that was the Over-God: Peach could feel his overwhelming power even from a distance. At the side of his throne was Rosalina, her hands, feet and throat bound in thorned purple vines, her body limp and her expression blank. Her bang had been ripped away, revealing that she still possessed the Triforce of Wisdom within her body – which meant that the Over-God had the other two pieces.

"Wait," Peach said, looking at Micaiah and Jotaro. "They're not part of the duel. Send them back to the Observatory."

"It hardly matters," Jotaro said. "The Over-God's going to kill us regardless. We might as well watch the duel before we die."

Micaiah nodded in agreement. "He likely knows that we've been researching time-stop spells, so he wants to nip that in the bud before we become an actual threat."

If they had only had more time…

"Go there," Meta Knight said, pointing to two empty seats at the edge of the ring. Once Micaiah and Jotaro took their seats, a semitransparent red force field popped into existence around the ring, then just as quickly faded. Peach could still feel the energy of the force field coursing around them, but it blocked her from sensing anything beyond, including the Over-God's power, Rosalina's condition or Micaiah's telepathic link.

"Do not forget our deal, Warrior-God!" the Over-God said, his voice deep and possessed of the same unearthly quality that Rosalina had had.

"What does he mean by that?" Peach asked.

"I attempted to block the Love-God's fleet from attacking your world, but I was unsuccessful," Meta Knight said. "The Over-God found out, and… He was not pleased. My fate is sealed, but He had the grace to grant me one final duel before my death."

"Then why don't we fight together? You have nothing to lose!" Peach pleaded.

"Even if I did think we stood a chance against Him, it is too late. The force field will only lift when one of us dies." Meta Knight raised his sword. "Now, Princess! This will be the last fight for both of us, so let us make it a duel the universe itself will remember!"

Peach gritted her teeth and held Grim close to her heart. She took a deep breath, and to her surprise, generated quite a bit of Ripple; despite the arena seemingly floating in the middle of space, as evidenced by the starry sky above, the atmosphere was oxygenated. "I'm ready."

Meta Knight started by swinging his sword at incredible speed, just like last time; but Peach's training had paid off, and she was able to react to his movements and block his sword beam with her parasol. One of her options buffed her with Saber, Haste, Protect and Shell, while the other threw down a Force Barrier around them.

But even with Haste, Meta Knight was still too quick for her to follow with her eyes. She fired a few 'tag' spells at him, but he easily dodged or intercepted them with more sword beams. Just like last time, he was slowed down as he entered the effects of the Force Barrier, but he was still fast enough to slice right through Peach's body – only to be baffled when her body, options and the Force Barrier itself dissipated into nothingness.

Meta Knight looked around, only to see five more Peaches, each with options and Force Barriers, scattered around the arena. He swung his sword several times in succession, sending sword beams at each of them, but they all intercepted with Hexagon Barriers around their parasols and reflected the energy back at him. He dodged each attack easily by flying upwards, only to run into two more Peaches and a Rosalina, the latter of which playfully tapped the top of Meta Knight's head with her wand.

A string of luminescent pearls hit Meta Knight in the back, sending him spiraling out of control. His bat-like wings spread out and created enough drag for him to regain his (aerial) footing, and he looked down to see an enormous shaggy monster wearing Peach's dress preparing another Pearl spell.

"Illusions," Meta Knight muttered. "She means to not only defeat me, but humiliate me in the process." He flew at the monster, expecting to dispel it simply by flying into it – and collided with its shaggy fur, stopping instantly but not even causing the beast to flinch. It grabbed Meta Knight with one of its hands and slammed him against the ground, but he severed its arm before it could do it a second time – and though the monster dissipated, a deep gash opened up on Meta Knight's left side.

Peach and her options reappeared in place of the giant monster, dispelling her Vanish and Blink effects. The tip of her parasol was alight with a blade of pink energy.

"You're right," she said. "I do mean to humiliate you in front of the Over-God. You'll forever be remembered as the God of Apex that lost to pretty lights and a woman in a pink dress."

"You need to work on your insults," Meta Knight said. "I have endured far worse."

"Oh, I know. I was just distracting you while I put another Confuse spell on you."

Peach vanished, and in her place appeared nearly a hundred Peach doppelgangers, interspersed with a few doppelgangers of Micaiah, Jotaro, Rosalina and Meta Knight himself. Meta Knight used his Mach Tornado attack, generating a vortex of orange energy around himself by spinning at high speed, and charged headfirst into the crowd; but he felt another cut open on his body as he made contact with one of his own doppelgangers.

Meta Knight paused for a moment, realizing that the entire crowd was now copies of him. They charged at him from every angle, but he found an opening and flew toward the edge of the arena – and right into one of Peach's options. The option giggled as it created the ghostly image of a clock turning backwards behind it, vanishing just before Meta Knight ran it through with his sword.

The swarm of Meta Knight illusions continued toward him, but they seemed to be speeding up; either that, or, as he suspected, he was slowing down. He fired several sword beams at the horde, but each defeated illusion left another small cut somewhere on his body. He wasn't bleeding badly just yet, but the damage was accumulating quickly.

"Of course, those Slow and Confuse spells were just distractions too."

Meta Knight turned around to see the Peach option again, still giggling. He slashed it several times, but his sword passed through the option each time without dissipating the illusion.

"Fight me like a proper warrior!" Meta Knight screamed.

"I'm following the rules of the duel," the Peach option said. "These spells are part of my skillset, so I'm allowed to use them, no?"

"You make a mockery of this duel! Were you a true warrior, you would face me without any trickery or deceit!"

"That's the thing, Meta Knight – I'm not a proper warrior," the Peach option said, its squeaky voice suddenly turning serious. "I don't have the same 'warrior spirit' that you do. I don't like to fight or kill. But if I have to do it, I'm going to play to my strengths, and that's deceiving and outthinking my opponents."

"You are making a sport of this duel!" Meta Knight screamed, his rage building." I sensed your power and potential back on Sandwide Station, and that is why I let you go! I expected to get a proper sendoff, but instead I am being toyed with by a child!"

"Then why not join us? We could defeat the Over-God together. Wouldn't that be a worthy test of your power?"

"Enough!"

Meta Knight exploded in a burst of orange energy strong enough to leave scorch marks across the arena's entire floor. Peach, who was hiding in one of the arena's corners, shielded herself with Grim and a Prismatic Barrier that reflected most of the energy back, but the heat of the blast left burn marks on her arms and face.

Peach came out from behind her parasol, patched up her burns with Therapy, and looked at Meta Knight's new form. He was about twice the size as previous, with the same relative proportions, although his arms and legs were a bit longer. His previously dark-blue body and wings were now jet black, and his eyes were bright red and diamond-shaped, with the symbol of the Apex visible within. His sword Galaxia was longer and had two extra sets of spikes. His entire body was covered in a flame-like aura of orange energy.

"I am Meta Knight, Warrior-God of the Apex," he declared, pointing his sword at Peach. "I have had enough of your tricks, woman. Now we will fight for real."

"Why didn't you just transform at the beginning of our fight?" Peach asked.

But Meta Knight refused to answer, instead charging at her with wordless fury. His aura lashed out as bolts of lightning, striking around Peach and dispelling the Vanish and Blink spells she tried to put up. She raised Grim and created another sword-like construct at its tip, while at the same time putting up several Hexagon Barriers around the canopy.

Meta Knight slashed wildly at her with his sword, but her Haste and Saber let her parry most of the blows, and her Hexagon Barriers absorbed the excess kinetic force and energy from his aura. He reared back and shot his aura forward as an explosive sphere, but Peach released the stored energy in Grim and detonated it early, flooding the entire arena in orange light.

Once the light and smoke faded, Meta Knight reignited his aura and looked around for Peach, who had predictably vanished in the aftermath of the explosion. He again fired bolts of lightning from his aura at random spots of the arena's floor, methodically hitting every square inch to make sure he wouldn't lose sight of her again.

So of course, Peach descended from above and struck him on the back with a hammer construct. He tumbled through midair but had enough control to fire another aura ball upwards, but Peach was expecting it this time; she reflected half back with a Prismatic Barrier, while storing the rest with Hexagon Barriers. The arena was again blinded by light, but Meta Knight reached out with his own ability to sense magic and targeted Peach's presence.

This time, when he reignited his aura, it took the shape of a giant crustacean-like monster. The monster opened its claws and fired aura balls by the dozens, while Meta Knight himself added several sword beams a second to the barrage. Peach's barriers held admirably, but the dakka eventually overwhelmed her and broke through her barriers. She fell to the ground, badly burned by the heat of Meta Knight's fighting spirit.

Peach's magic presence faded. Meta Knight dismissed his aura and flew at Peach's falling body, stabbing her multiple times and dispelling the illusion with a final thrust, revealing a group of Sensory Bombs clustered together in a vaguely humanoid shape. Meta Knight's senses were overwhelmed by intense light and sound, and he tumbled to the ground once again.

Peach reappeared above him, having cloaked her presence with an invisible Prismatic Barrier, and unleashed the force she'd stored up in her two dozen Hexagon Barriers. The continuous stream of orange energy, mixed with her own rainbow-coloured FP, rained down on Meta Knight, melting the metal floor around him into slag. He tried to raise his aura to protect himself, but his Ki had run dry, despite the fact that he should have more than enough reserves for a basic shield.

Finally, after using up the energy stored in her hexagons, Peach wiped the sweat from her brow and collapsed Grim into its bracelet form. Meta Knight was still alive, but barely – the Silence spell she'd put in that attack seemed to seal his Ki as well, and she doubted he had much strength or stamina left.

She did know why he hadn't transformed at the start of their duel: that particular transformation was very energy-intensive, meant to quickly finish off an enemy at the expense of longevity. And to be fair, she only barely managed to contain half of the force of the second giant aura ball, and she would've been quite hurt if she'd taken the whole thing head-on. But she'd managed to weather it with more barriers and more trickery, and as such, she was confident that she'd won the duel. And she'd even done it without revealing too much about her fighting style to the Over-God.

But the duel wouldn't end until one of them was dead.

Peach flew down to Meta Knight's body. He was in surprisingly good shape after the attack, only sporting a few burns on his arms and sides, but he was definitely in no shape to continue. His mask had been burnt off or destroyed during the attack, and to Peach's surprise…

…he was rather cute.

"Here." Peach knelt down and used a weak Therapy spell, just enough to give him a bit of stamina back. He immediately reached for his sword, but she put her foot down hard on the blade.

"You…" Meta Knight sputtered. "You need to finish me."

"I don't intend to kill you," Peach said. "Even if you don't want to assist us against the Over-God, I'll still let you go."

"Why…?"

"Because I now see the potential in you." Peach again knelt down and looked him right in the eyes. "There's nothing wrong with trying to become stronger. In fact, I respect you for having such dedication to your craft. But I think you could be so much better than you are."

"How foolish…" With some effort, Meta Knight got into a sitting position. His body was heavy with fatigue, but his eyes still shone with the same burning intensity she'd seen back on Sandwide Station. "I am a weapon with the ability to speak, nothing else. My entire life revolves around fighting to get stronger."

"And you've never wanted to do anything else?"

"No."

"Then why do it for the Apex? Why not strike out on your own?"

"It is a matter of convenience. The Apex has many enemies, some of them worthy of a challenge. When they prove too powerful for the Knights, I am sent in to deal with them. I practice my craft, and the Apex spreads its influence further."

"What if I told you that I don't intend on destroying the Apex?" Peach gestured to Micaiah, still sitting on the sidelines of the arena. "Once we overthrow the Over-God, Micaiah will take control of the Apex and start doing things on her own terms. They won't gut other worlds' cultures anymore, nor will they force others to accept their gifts on pain of death. But they'll still have enemies that need to be dealt with, and they'll need a powerful enforcer."

"I could never bear to work for her," he said. "If she takes control of the Apex, then I will kill her myself."

"Just because she's not physically powerful doesn't mean she's not a threat. She managed to restrain me quite successfully, and I'm sure she could do the same for you." Peach got up and turned away from him. "No matter what you think, you can choose a different path for yourself, Meta Knight. Or, you can continue on the same path and end up dead at the hands of the Over-God."

Meta Knight grabbed his sword. "I won't be lectured by some bleeding-heart woman about how to live my life. I am a proud warrior, and I deserve a worthy death. And if you do not give it to me, then I will get it at the hands of the Over-God by killing you. Now make your own choice – who will leave this arena alive, you or me?"

"I was hoping to reason with you." Peach snapped her fingers, creating a ring of pure white energy around Meta Knight. He tried to escape its effect, but an invisible force field, cylindrical in shape, trapped him on all sides. The ring quickly filled in, becoming a full circle, and released a stream of holy energy upward, only barely contained by the force field around. The light faded just as quickly as it came, leaving no trade of the Warrior-God's body behind.

That was the second offensive spell she'd learned from the Book of Minwu, aptly named "Fade". It was designed for a wider area of effect, but she'd focused its effects as much as she could, not only to make sure his body wasn't desecrated by the Over-God, but… well, hopefully he would have considered that a 'worthy' death.

And with Meta Knight's passing, the force field over the arena faded.

"Excellent, excellent!" the Over-God said, clapping sarcastically at the end of the battle. "Yes, he was an amusing pawn for a time, but he far outlived his usefulness."

The Over-God rose from his Throne and descended from upon high, cloaked in an aura of purple flames. Micaiah and Jotaro ran over to Peach, preparing her magic and his Stand in what was likely a futile attempt to fight a being that far outclassed them in every way.

"Normally, I would offer you all a position in My Apex, but we all know that you would never take it. So instead, I will give you the honour of dying by My hand! Allow me to show you the power of The World!"


	22. Battle Tendency, Part 13

Peach reabsorbed her options, regaining the biomass lost against Meta Knight. She, Jotaro and Micaiah threw their most powerful attacks right off the bat, hoping to take out the Over-God in one shot; but he raised his arm and neutralized both Micaiah's energy disc and Peach's Pearl spells by dispelling them on contact with his palm, none the worse for wear.

"And now it ends," he said. "Time, stand still!"

The Over-God cackled madly as the colour faded from everything around him, and the three fools before him, the many Knights of Apex watching their battle, and indeed, everything in the entire universe stopped moving. His Stand, a yellow-tan hulking humanoid named "The World", was able to stop time at will; and though he had formerly had a limitation for how long he could use that power, in this body, and with the Triforce of Power, he could sustain it for as long as he desired.

And that was it. They had spent so long fighting for their various causes, trying to find a way to defeat Him… and in the end, they failed, just like everyone and everything else.

The Over-God's hand burned with dark flames as he casually strolled over to Jotaro. He raised his arm, ready for a killing blow – and Jotaro punched him solidly in the stomach, sending him reeling.

"What-" But Jotaro continued his assault, with both him and Star Platinum pounding away at the Over-God's body. The attack took him by surprise, but he quickly recomposed himself and sent The World to strike Star Platinum in the knee, by extension knocking Jotaro to the ground as his leg flew behind him.

A thought occurred to the Over-God. "You, boy. Are you a Joestar?"

"H-how do you know that name?" Jotaro said, wiping blood from his mouth.

"I know the Joestars quite well, boy… in fact, I have them to thank for my magnificent rise to power." The Over-God ripped his chest plate open, revealing a sickening sight: a pale, half-rotted face attached to his chest. The face smiled, revealing two pointed fangs. "Does the name 'Dio Brando' awaken a nameless fear in your heart?"

"Should it?" Jotaro said.

"Ah, but you should know your family history before you die." The Over-God, formerly both Ganondorf Dragmire and Dio Brando, but now an unholy merger of both, put his chest plate back on. "Your ancestor was a man named Jonathon Joestar. He and I were brothers, though I was adopted later in his life. But he deserved none of his privileged life, so I set to ruin it. In time, I came across an ancient stone mask that turned those who gave it a blood sacrifice into vampires, which I used to gain the power I deserved.

"Jonathon learned the accursed Ripple arts and used them to destroy much of my body. But I respected him for that… after all, that marked him as my equal, and thus worthy of my grand destiny. So I took his body from him, and though the process was difficult, I turned it into my own.

"In time, I acquired an even greater power – the power of the Stand – but even that was not enough! I conquered and dominated the world, becoming its new god, but I was unsatisfied at even that. It was then that I was visited by the Apex, and I met a man named Ganondorf… and I sensed that his body would grant me the power that was truly my birthright. I took it from him, just as I did everything else! And now, as the Over-God of the Apex, I will ascend to even greater heights!"

"So you were the one responsible," Jotaro said. "You killed my family, my friends, and everything else on my home."

"No, this was much before your time, boy. Our Earth is an odd world, you see… it seems to reset itself every two hundred years or so, with only minor details changing between each cycle. I do not understand it myself, but it has allowed me to kill my fair share of Joestars over the millennia..."

"I could care less about your bullshit." Jotaro got to his feet, Ripple and Star Platinum ready, brimming with righteous rage. "You killed everyone on Earth – my home. And you will pay for that."

But Jotaro was at the limit of Star Platinum's time stop ability. He made one last desperate charge at the Over-God, but he barely landed a single punch as he too was frozen in time. The Over-God again laughed as his hand, still cloaked in dark flame, punctured Jotaro's chest and vaporized his heart and lungs.

"Resume," the Over-God ordered, and The World obeyed. Time began flowing again, and Jotaro fell over, dead before he hit the ground. Peach and Micaiah finished their attacks, but reacted in shock at Jotaro's lifeless body.

The two of them, along with Jotaro's body, vanished into thin air, but the Over-God could tell by their magic presences that it was nothing more than a cloaking spell. He unleashed a torrent of dark energy from his feet, dispelling their invisibility as well as the numerous other protective spells Peach had placed on them. She turned to fire another Pearl spell at him, but the Over-God once again commanded The World to freeze time, and it obeyed.

He enjoyed seeing them squirm like that. Especially them, since they were aware of his abilities, but still helpless against it. And the fact that he would eliminate a traitor, a threat and a Joestar, all in one day, would be immensely satisfying.

The Over-God walked over to them, again taking his sweet time and enjoying the frozen expression of fear on Micaiah's face. Peach was vainly attempting to cast some sort of spell on Jotaro, and it was possible that she might just be able to revive him – the brain did remain active a few minutes after clinical death, after all, and she could likely restart his heart before he received any lasting brain damage. He could let her go through with it, as it would let him add yet another Joestar kill to his tally… but at the same time, she was a threat to him, and thus would be eliminated next.

The Over-God had tangled with an Ultimate Life Form before, and he knew all too well of their resilience and endless reserves. And he had made the mistake of letting another go loose, though he was in the process of rectifying that particular mistake.

"I know you're aware of me, Rosetta," the Over-God said, looking at the paralyzed figure of Rosalina near his throne – and in particular, the white diamond brooch near her throat. "Nothing but your own measly Code is stopping you from helping these creatures."

But Rosalina didn't even twitch. She was still alive, of course – she still possessed both a magical presence and the Triforce of Wisdom, which would've abdicated her body if she were dead – but she hadn't offered even the slightest bit of resistance during the torture he'd put her through. She was using some sort of mental defense mechanism to hide from him, but he would crack it soon enough.

The Over-God pointed his finger right at Peach's forehead and fired a small bead of dark energy into her brain. Once time resumed, it would grow into a great flame that would consume her entire body in but a few seconds. She might put up some token resistance, but mostly it would just be screaming in agony, and then… nothing.

But something was wrong. There was something in his body...

And then, out of nowhere, his own arm jerked up and grabbed his own throat.

The Over-God felt a foreign presence within his own body, neither Dio's nor Ganondorf's, but something quite different. But when had it invaded him? It was a small presence, little more than a few cells, but they were spread out across his body – and they were feeding off of him, and growing. The largest concentration of these foreign cells were within his left arm, so he did what he did best and immolated it with dark flame.

But to his surprise, his left arm severed itself at the elbow, and used some sort of curative magic to douse the flames. He angrily brought his foot down on the mobile arm as it skittered away, but a small burst of force from its other end threw off his balance just long enough for the arm to join with its controller – Princess Peach.

The arm merged into Peach's body, and the colour returned to her form at once. The Over-God's dark flame went to work, consuming a large part of her head, but she calmly doused it with a Therapy spell and quickly regenerated the damage by pulling biomass from the rest of her body.

The Over-God doused his stump in magical golden light and regenerated his lost arm in record time. The same spell also seemed to eradicate Peach's cells within his body, since she could no longer feel their presence. "Tell me," he said, sounding more impressed than angry. "Tell me how you did it."

"It was mostly luck," Peach said. "I figured that since you could move around while time was stopped, then that your body was completely unaffected, both inside and out. So I put a few of my cells into that Pearl spell you blocked with your hand, which proceeded to infect you. My consciousness is attached to all of my cells, even individual ones, so I remained aware even while time was stopped."

"But that shouldn't protect your body from The World. What else did you do?"

Peach smiled and went into a defensive stance. A presence manifested above her – a muscular humanoid female, its skin a metallic purple colour, its hair dark and wild, and covered in only a few strips of clothing.

"I took Jotaro's consciousness and soul into myself," Peach said, "and that included his Stand. He's still quite upset that you nearly killed him, and we have all the time in the world to fight before we need to worry about him bleeding out."

The Over-God once again clapped, but this time he was sincere. "Congratulations, woman. You have managed to overcome but one of my abilities. Now you will have to contend with the rest."

Peach waved her hand at the Over-God, her Stand mimicking her gesture. "Bring it," she said.

_Are you okay?_ Peach asked, creating a telepathic link with her own brain.

_I'm aware, at least_, her brain, using the 'voice' of Jotaro, responded. _Your body is unfamiliar to me, so I'll focus on controlling my Stand._

_How long do you think you can sustain Star Platinum's time-stop?_

_As long as necessary._

One of the options they'd considered while trying to overcome the Over-God's time stop was giving Jotaro the powers of the Ultimate Life Form, which would (theoretically) give him boundless stamina and thus let him use his own time stop indefinitely. He'd declined, but Micaiah had later brought up the idea that since Stands were attached to a user's soul, Peach could theoretically absorb Jotaro in his entirety and gain Star Platinum for her own use, so long as she kept his soul preserved. Of course, doing so would kill Jotaro, a fact that he slightly objected to.

But Peach, while aware but paralyzed during the Over-God's time stop, had come up with another idea. She was able to mimic any organic being or part thereof, so why not an individual's brain? So, after the Over-God had killed Jotaro and resumed time, she quickly scanned Jotaro's brain as she had the Metroids, and converted her own brain into an exact replica of his own at the time of death, before any serious brain damage or decay set in. She'd also performed a sort of reverse Ultimate Deep Pass Overdrive to absorb his life force, which was now stored in a disconnected pocket within her ribcage, but they'd mixed just enough to alter Star Platinum's appearance.

And now, with two fighting as one, they could finally take on the Over-God on his own terms.

Star Platinum charged at the Over-God, its fists blazing with the prismatic light of Peach's FP, but was intercepted by The World. The two Stands traded blows while zipping around the arena, their extreme strength countered by the other's exceptional durability, but at least distracting each other from interfering in the other fight.

Peach started by buffing herself with her usual array of spells, but a wave of the Over-God's hand dispelled their effects with little to no fanfare. She switched to Vanish and Blink, hoping to distract the Over-God long enough to come up with a plan, but another flaw came to light – they were fighting while time was stopped, and though Peach, the Over-God and their respective Stands were immune, their spells were not. The Blink copies simply stood motionless as the Over-God again dispelled them, as well as her Vanish, with another wave of his hand.

"Do you think you can win with a few parlor tricks?" the Over-God taunted as thorned purple vines shot out from his right arm and at Peach. She drew Grim and conjured its hammer-head construct, but they failed to even nudge the vines as they wrapped around her and tore at her skin and clothing.

_That's a Stand! _Jotaro exclaimed. _I've seen that Stand before, but how did he get it?_

The Over-God laughed as he noticed the expression on Peach's face. "But a person can only have one Stand at a time, isn't that right?" He flexed his right arm and sent pulses of dark flames through Hermit Purple's vines and into Peach's body. "How simple-minded of you, to think that I would be bound by the rules of lesser men."

Peach countered the dark flames of Hermit Purple with pulses of Pearl spells channeled through the vines. Holy and dark energy met and exploded along the lengths of the vines, and the Over-God retracted all but a few of the vines out of reflex.

_The Stand is his weak point,_ Jotaro said. As he transmitted this, Star Platinum narrowly avoided a haymaker from The World and countered by kneeing it in the stomach. The Over-God grimaced and nearly doubled over, but regained his focus in time to counter more Pearl spells channeled through the vines.

_Didn't you mention something about Stands only being harmed by other Stands?_ Peach asked.

_You're using magic, which I assume gets around that rule, _Jotaro said. _Just keep attacking those vines, and I'll focus on his other Stand._

Peach grabbed on to one of the vines around her body and gave it a mighty tug, jerking the Over-God forward just a bit. She leapt forward, letting loose with Grim and its hammer-head, but he blocked the swing with his other arm and countered by firing a wide-angle ray of light at her.

But she'd planned for such an event, and as such, the Hexagon Barriers on the interior of Grim's canopy absorbed the entirety of his attack, though just barely. Rather than unleash it directly, she channeled all of the absorbed energy into her body and through Hermit Purple's vines, right into the Over-God's body. He recoiled back, steaks of yellow light shooting from burns on his uncovered skin, and Peach pressed the attack by again pulling him toward her and delivering an Electric Light Overdrive with her free hand right into the Over-God's forehead.

At the moment of impact, a dark barrier with a number of glowing hexagons all over it appeared on his head. The hexagons absorbed Peach's attack and continued draining energy right from her body, until she barely managed to tear her hand away from the barrier, literally disarming herself in the process.

This time, the Over-God took advantage of their tether and yanked his arm back, pulling Peach towards him. A few of the glowing hexagons appeared on his Hermit Purple-sustaining arm and, augmented by dark energy, he delivered a punch that outright disintegrated Peach's head and neck. She pulled biomass from the rest of her body to regenerate the damage, making sure to recreate Jotaro's brain in place of her own, but she had already lost a considerable amount of mass, and she couldn't afford to lose much more.

_Huh? What's going on? _Jotaro said. _My body isn't moving right-_

_Jotaro, don't you remember? I took your consciousness into myself._

_You did? When was this?_

Peach transmitted the events of their battle so far through their link, but Jotaro only remembered up to being impaled through the chest by the Over-God. Which made sense; Peach's image of Jotaro's brain had come from that exact moment, so he wouldn't remember anything beyond that as long as she recreated his brain in the same way. Still, he caught on quickly enough for Star Platinum to sidestep around to The World's back and headbutt it in the neck. The Over-God's head jerked forward, but he recovered just as quickly.

More pressing was the fact that there were still a number of hexagons glowing around the Over-God's arms. Peach was sure that he'd just cast her Hexagon Barrier spell, and somehow even improved it; her hexagons had never directly absorbed energy from mere physical contact, nor had they had a strong enough suction effect to tear off appendages. It was possible that he had seen her cast it while fighting with Meta Knight, but that was still barely ten or fifteen minutes ago from his perspective; how could he master and improve an enemy's spell in that short amount of time?

The Over-God again noticed her concern and laughed. "You wonder how I copied your spell?" he said mockingly. "Integration is the true power of The World! It was limited at first to copying the Stand abilities of the Joestar line, but now I can copy any spell or ability I see at my leisure!"

"Only fools and braggarts tell an opponent about their abilities," Peach said, in her own voice but with Jotaro's sense of courtesy. "Which are you?"

"The one who will tear the tongue out of that mouth of yours!" He fired more Hermit Purple vines at Peach, but she dissolved her entire body into a puddle of flesh-coloured gelatin. From the gelatin rose nine infant Peaches, three of whom put up a Force Barrier around the group while the others cloaked themselves in flame magic and holy light.

Star Platinum mimicked the change, splitting from one body into nine smaller ones, though they retained the same proportions as their normal-sized form. The World grabbed two of them and bashed their heads together, knocking two of the Peaches to the ground, but the other seven Star Platinums flew around The World and spammed it with punches and kicks, striking with only slightly less force than their normal form.

_This is a very odd feeling,_ Jotaro said, Peach having divided his brain up amongst each of her bodies but keeping them connected with a telepathic link.

_Sorry, I didn't have the time to warn you, _Peach said. The front Peaches dropped the barrier and rushed forward, striking the Over-God from every direction and inflicting burns on him with their auras. Combined with the simultaneous and similar assault on The World, they actually managed to hold the Over-God at bay, though it was clear that it was just a stalling tactic and that he was taking negligible damage at best.

_We're far outclassed here,_ Jotaro said. _And if what he says is true, then he'll only get tougher to beat as the fight drags on._

_And I'm at a disadvantage without my buffing and illusion spells,_ Peach said. _I can't attack from a distance because of the time stop, but if we end Star Platinum's own time stop, we're sitting ducks. We need to find some way to shift the environment to our advantage…_

_Or shift the environment entirely. Do you possess any sort of teleportation magic?_

_No, but-_ That just gave Peach an reached out to the bracelet on her main body's wrist, shrunken to fit her diminutive size. _Grim, do you think you can contain the Over-God's soul in your domain?_

In her mind's eye, she saw the silhouette of Grim, the spirit of her weapon. _I do not know, master, but I will attempt it if you wish._

It was risky, but it was at least a plan of action. While the Over-God was busy defending against the Peaches flying around, Peach's main body flew around to his back and expanded Grim, this time into the shape of a small dagger. He reached around to smack her, but another Peach grabbed one of the hanging Hermit Purple vines on his arm and yanked it away, giving the main Peach enough time to thrust it in his neck. She then placed her hands on his shoulder and shouted "Reverse Deep Pass Overdrive!", focusing on the Over-God's immensely powerful soul and channeling it into Grim's pocket dimension.

Peach opened the link between her and Grim, drawing hers and Jotaro's consciousnesses into Grim's pocket dimension. They appeared, both in their proper bodies, on the grounds of the gothic Mushroom Castle, illuminated by a pinkish moon. The castle had been ruined nearly beyond repair, with large chunks scattered over the grounds or simply missing altogether, and none of the skeletal knights who usually patrolled the castle were visible, or indeed, remained. The cause of it was the Over-God, standing in the castle's courtyard, and flinging wave after wave of explosive elemental magic all over the place.

She'd miscalculated. She'd figured that he would have focused his battle skills on fighting while time was stopped, and would thus be limited to close-range attacks and spells. But here, now showing off his true mastery of magic, she felt nothing less than a sense of awe for the literal god-like being before her.

"I fear I am too weak to contain him, master," Grim said, appearing behind the two of them.

"We might still be able to defeat him here," Peach said. "Come on, let's go!"

The three of them nodded and charged towards the Over-God. Peach put up all of her various barrier spells at once around them, but the Over-God broke through them all with a single spell of his own. Grim blocked another wave with a skull-shaped barrier projected from its parasol, but a second attack vaporized the parasol entirely.

Jotaro ran ahead and summoned Star Platinum, and attacked the Over-God at lightning speed while shouting his battle-cry at the top of his lungs. The Over-God blocked every attack with his Hexagon Barrier variant, but Peach disconnected the link between Jotaro and Grim just before he unleashed the energy, tearing a deep channel in the castle courtyard and leaving a huge crater in the moon.

Peach dissolved into hundreds of chunks of biomass and flew out in every direction, converging behind the Over-God and blasting him with a wave of force that sent him flying across the grounds. Grim conjured another parasol, this one with an energy scythe blade attached to the tip, and slashed at the Over-God as he flew by; but he grabbed the hem of Grim's robe and dragged it with him.

The half-formed Peach activated her flight spell and headed towards them, throwing a barrage of Pearl spells on the way. The Over-God created a sphere of dark energy around Grim and quickly shrunk it down, small enough for it to fit in his mouth. He swallowed the sphere, and Grim inside it, in a single gulp, and the entire dimension began to shake; Peach terminated the link and returned to her physical body before she could see what happened next.

Back in her physical body, she noticed that the Over-God, still momentarily stunned by her sneak attack, now had a sword in his left hand: a sword longer than he was tall, with a jagged black blade and a golden hilt. She didn't need to sense its magical presence to know that he'd claimed Grim for his own, just as she'd claimed it from Dracula.

"Hmm…" The Over-God swung his new toy, cleaving one Peach option in half and leaving a residue of dark energy that quickly devoured both halves. He turned to the main Peach, again grinning wickedly. "My old sword was broken by the guardian of the Triforce of Courage, and I never did get around to replacing it. But this one will serve me just as well."

Before Peach could put up any sort of defense, he swung his new sword in a horizontal arc, sending out a wave of dark energy that dissolved five more Peach options. She and the remaining two bodies flew upwards and recombined into one body, with Star Platinum following in her wake and doing the same.

She had nothing left. Her reserves of FP and Ripple were still fine, but none of her spells were working on him, and he'd inevitably use anything she threw at him back at her. She couldn't take him on physically even with her whole body, much less her diminished one, and especially not now that he'd taken Grim. She might be able to run and hide, but not for long. Not to mention the fates of her friends – Micaiah, Jotaro, and-

Rosalina.

Peach again reached out with her telepathy, this time towards the limp figure near the Over-God's throne. _Rosalina_, she pleaded, _please, I need your help. I'll pay whatever price you want. I just… I know it was foolish to try fighting the Apex, but-_

"Say no more."

Rosalina easily broke the Hermit Purple vines restraining her and got to her feet. The Over-God turned and swung his sword at her, but the sword fell from his hand as his body was surrounded by a cocoon of blue energy. She floated over to him and kicked him in the shins, knocking him over.

"It is good to see you again, Princess Peach," Rosalina said. She rubbed the deep gashes on her throat and wrists with her hand, and they regenerated on their own. "You've done well against the Over-God. I doubt very few people have lasted this long against him."

"But I can't do a thing to him," Peach said, floating down to the ground. "I was stupid. I thought I had enough power and skill to defeat him, but… he's completely out of my league. I was stupid to think I had a chance."

Rosalina walked over and put her hand on Peach's shoulder. "I don't think it's stupid. I think you're shown bravery for fighting against him despite the odds. I think you're very brave for fighting for the sake of not just you or your friends, but for everyone else in the universe, whether they know it or not. I would call you extremely brave for using your power to defend others against perceived injustice."

"Yeah, but all the courage in the universe won't defeat the Over-God," Peach said.

"But you must still be commended for trying." Rosalina looked over at the cocoon holding the Over-God. "I will attempt to fight the Over-God myself. I will send you and your friends back to the Comet Observatory."

"No!" Peach forcefully grabbed Rosalina's wrist. "This is… I started this fight. And, for better or for worse, I need to finish it. Besides, you've already broken your code just by helping me, right?"

Rosalina shook her head. "The circumstances will justify this transgression to my peers."

Peach unfastened the brooch on her shirt. "Here, this is an Aja stone. From what I understand, they're rare and extremely valuable. Will you accept this as payment for taking Jotaro and Micaiah back to the Observatory?"

"No, I will not need payment for that. But… are you sure that you wish to stay here?"

Peach nodded. "I'm not done yet. Maybe I'll find some way to defeat him, or at least I'll do some lasting damage. That, and he's going to head for the Observatory as soon as we're done here, so I can at least hold him off long enough for you to prepare a defense."

"I see." Rosalina unfastened her own brooch and set it to the side. "Then I leave you with a gift."

Rosalina's body turned into a mass of flesh-coloured gelatin. From the top emerged an infant-sized and –proportioned figure with pale hair and skin, wearing blue-green clothing. The rest of her biomass formed into a perfect cube and fell to the ground.

"You-"

"My own history is not too different from yours." The infant Rosalina picked up her brooch, a white diamond set in silver, and stuck it to her back. "I was once the monarch of a land from a very distant world. The threat to my kingdom came from within, not from the stars; but I too used an Aja and became an Ultimate Life Form to defend my people. From there, I built my Observatory and set out to help others throughout the universe."

"But I thought you were from the Mushroom World?"

"It is a complicated story. Perhaps I will tell you when you return to the Observatory."

Peach and Rosalina walked over to the time-frozen bodies of Micaiah and Jotaro. Peach placed her hands on his back and transferred his stored life force back into his body, then used a high-powered Therapy spell that would heal his body once time resumed.

"The energy in my biomass will allow you to move while time is stopped," Rosalina said. "But it will only last for about an hour from your perspective, less depending on how much damage you take from the Over-God."

"Thank you," Peach said. "Thank you for everything."

"As I said before, many of my peers have been wronged by the Apex. It would please me if someone was able to finally defeat the Over-God and use his organization for a better purpose."

"Yeah, me too." Peach flew over to the cube of biomass and immersed herself within. She formed it back into her own body, complete with her classic pink dress.

"Farewell, and good luck." Rosalina vanished, along with Micaiah and Jotaro. Peach was now on her own, and had a strict time limit with which to defeat the Over-God; but now, more than ever, she felt like she could win. She had to win, for the sake of everyone.


	23. Battle Tendency, Part 14

The Over-God burst from his energy cocoon as the three of them teleported away. He fired more purple vines from his arm at their position, but they were long gone; he then noticed Peach, still standing there, and grinned.

"Thank you for staying here," he said. "It saves me the trouble of hunting you down later."

"I have a proposal for you, Over-God," Peach said, defiant as ever. "We're both immune to The World's time stop, and we're both being held back by it. If you let time resume, we could both show off our full battle strength. It would certainly make for a more interesting battle, no?"

"You don't think your petty goading will really work, do you?" the Over-God taunted. "No doubt you have some sort of plan to defeat me when time resumes, and no matter how futile it is, I will not let you have any advantages. We will continue fighting while The World is active, either until I completely eradicate you or your time runs out."

"Who said it was for _my _benefit?" Peach had stalled him just long enough to cast a Haste spell without him noticing. She used her now-enhanced speed to zip behind the Over-God and strike him in the back with a Ripple-infused punch that sent him flying across the arena. The rainbow energy released from the force of the punch quickly froze due to The World's time stop, leaving a rather beautiful prismatic orb hovering just above the arena floor.

Peach flew towards the Over-God's flying body, but he dispelled her Haste mid-flight and cast it on himself, giving him a mobility advantage that he'd lacked before. He managed a three-point landing on the ground and immediately jumped back at her, closing the gap near-instantly; but the two extra arms sprouting from her back reactivated her Haste and added Saber as well, and she caught his dark punch with one hand and pumped more Ripple and holy energy into his arm, disintegrating it in another frozen explosion of light.

An arm blade sprouted from Peach's other arm, made of hardened skin and bone and covered in thousands of tiny teeth, and she slashed at the Over-God's face. He blocked the blade with a Dark Hexagon Barrier, but she retracted the blade before it could sap too much of her energy. He discharged the hexagons' stored energy as a short-ranged blast of force, but she absorbed some of it with her own Hexagon Barrier and let the rest propel her backwards, regenerating the minor damage with Therapy.

And then an idea hit upon her. All this time, she'd been limited by the amount of biomass she currently controlled – but she'd also been easily regenerating it with her healing magic. Her Therapy spell couldn't heal anyone who wasn't injured, so it wouldn't be able to turn an (otherwise healthy) infant Peach into am adult-sized form, but if she deliberately injured herself…

The Over-God again closed the gap between them and let loose a hexagon-fueled punch right at her torso. She used a razor-thin blade-shaped blast of force to cut her body in half down the middle, easily dodging the punch itself and again letting the two halves be sent flying by the force. Both halves used Therapy to restore themselves to normal.

"Ah, Rosetta used that tactic on me as well!" the Over-God said. "Let me guess, you're going to split yourself into a veritable army next?"

The Over-God went after one of the Peaches, while he sent The World after the other, but they continued to Haste themselves and evade his attacks. They divided and restored into four bodies, then again, then again…

Finally, at sixty-four copies, Peach went on the offensive. She sent about forty of her bodies to attack the Over-God head-on, while the others stayed behind and continually cast supportive spells at such a high rate that even the Over-God's continuous dispels had little to no effect. He shrouded himself in dark flames and charged at the oncoming horde, and while he was individually stronger and tougher than Peach, he quickly found himself overwhelmed by forty of them striking him with fists and kicks imbued with flame, force, light and Ripple.

The Over-God summoned his sword, formerly Grim, and sent several waves of dark energy towards the Peaches. A few were quickly consumed, but the rest quickly learned how to overcome it – by severing the parts of their bodies affected by the energy and regenerating with more Therapy spells. A few of the Peaches even managed to divide into more copies this way, ultimately creating more copies than the Over-God had destroyed. He screamed in rage and slammed the sword tip-first into the ground, leaving a frozen wave of energy that consumed the Peaches on contact.

The Peaches took their positions around the Over-God's body, preparing their own auras of holy light and Ripple to break through. The dark wave continued to expand, and solidified into the shape of a giant humanoid, nearly three times the size of the already-tall Over-God, with a boar-like head, complete with snout and four white tusks. A humanoid form emerged from the creature's chest, though his arms and legs remained embedded in the creature's flesh; he was pale and muscular, with wild blonde hair and two prominent fangs protruding from his mouth.

"You have pushed me far enough," the Over-God said from his humanoid mouth. The boar-like creature roared in agreement. "I am the Over-God of the Apex! My power and authority are absolute across the universe! No force, much less a few copies of a pathetic woman, will challenge me!"

The sword in the boar's left hand morphed into a long golden trident. It slammed the trident down on the ground again, creating another instant-disintegration field around itself, and ran forward to the group of supporting Peach bodies in the back. One of the Peach bodies, surrounded entirely in an aura of holy energy, charged into the Over-God's disintegration field and managed to use an Electric Light Overdrive on the still-active The World, sending it into convulsions and stunning the Over-God for a few seconds, before her aura wore off and she was disintegrated.

The other front-line Peaches mimicked the first one and intensified their auras as they flew at the Over-God. It swung its trident, managing to knock a few of them away, but the rest pummeled the boar with short-range blasts of holy energy and explosive punches. The boar opened its mouth and fired a dark energy breath weapon, disintegrating a few more Peaches even through their auras, but its range was limited enough that it was easily avoided.

But even with the continued attacks of thirty-odd bodies, she was still barely doing any damage to the Over-God's body. A few of the bodies went after The World, overwhelming it with their magical energy, but the damage dealt to the Stand barely reflected on its body; even severing its arms, legs and head with blades of magical force didn't even stagger the Over-God, and The World quickly regenerated from even the most grievous wounds.

The Over-God managed to impale one of the Peach bodies on the prongs of its trident, which absorbed her completely in less than a second. It went still for a moment, leaving it open for attacks, but it quickly regenerated the damage. Its dark aura then suddenly intensified, vaporizing every Peach in range, leaving only the twenty or so that had previously acted as support. They all divided in half again and restored themselves with Therapy, but not before the Over-God, aided by Haste, crossed the distance and vaporized ten of them while the rest flew away.

Peach felt a part of one of her bodies in the Over-God's body, but she was unable to act through it. He had put some sort of binding spell on the piece of her body within him that completely immobilized it, while leaving him free to draw from her near-infinite well of FP and her magical knowledge.

"Integration!" the Over-God shouted, his boar head again roaring in agreement. "My powers are not just limited to my Stand! I will take everything that makes me stronger and make it a part of myself, including you, so-called Ultimate Life Form!"

The Over-God's form changed again, becoming an even larger monstrosity with the same basic shape, but with two extra arms, hair made of dark flames, dark gray skin and an even larger golden trident. His dark presence distorted the very fabric of reality itself, creating odd distortions and black spots that appeared and disappeared at random in the time-stopped air around them.

The longer they fought, the stronger he became. Peach stood even less of a chance now than she had at the start of the fight. She did have one tactic left, but she didn't know how well it would work against him now; even still, she'd always been prepared to give her life to defeat her enemies and defend not just the people she cared about, but everyone who would be threatened by evil and tyranny.

Peach combined the bodies she had left into a giant-sized version of herself, standing nearly three times as tall as the Over-God's current form. He fired another breath attack at her, but the super-sized Peach used every defensive spell and effect she knew to create a bright aura that easily dissipated the Over-God's attack.

She reached down, shifting her hand into a mass of tendrils that wrapped around and pierced the Over-God's body in several places, mostly paralyzing him. Her aura dispelled his own, but he still had the edge offensively; he channeled ludicrous amounts of energy into her arm, setting it ablaze, but she countered it the best she could. Her entire body melted and reformed into a large circular mass around the Over-God, sealing him within.

The final offensive spell she'd learned from the Book of Minwu was called Holy. It was powerful on its own, and indeed she'd been using it to create her various holy auras, but she'd realized that she needed a trump card attack, something she could use to destroy even the most powerful of enemies. As such, she'd developed a variation of Holy that she'd dubbed "Seraphic Star", after her favourite fairy tale as a child.

The Over-God lashed out from within her, throwing all sorts of offensive spells and dispel effects in an attempt to escape, but Peach compressed her mass and bound him even more tightly. She also converted the innermost layer of her body into digestive cells, which stripped away a few layers of the Over-God's skin but had little effect since he could regenerate. She could, however, siphon off some of his energy each time she consumed one of his cells; her FP had actually started to run low during the battle, and she needed every last bit of magical energy to make sure her spell worked.

Her FP continued to regenerate, but she drew on it more and more, finally reaching a point where she was using more of it than she was gaining back. When that finally ran out, she used what Ripple she had left to increase its power; and when that ran out as well, she tapped into her life force, funneling that into the spell for one last boost of power. Her entire body glowed white-hot with holy energy, burning the Over-God down to the bone and doing enough damage to him to forcefully deactivate The World and let time resume.

"You fool!" the Over-God transmitted through a telepathic link. "You know in your heart that I will survive this attack!"

"It doesn't matter," she said. She closed the link, but not before transmitted three final words.

"This ends here."

The Seraphic Star went off with a bang, not only vaporizing the Apex's Throne and all of the Knights of Apex on it, but completely destroying the rocky planet below too. The explosion out-shone the local star for the briefest moment, but the bright flash just as quickly faded into the darkness of space.

* * *

Somehow, against all reason, Peach regained consciousness.

Her body, or what was left of it, was floating in space. She collected what remained of her biomass together, forming a head (with short hair), both arms and part of a torso, and tried to use Therapy to regain the rest… but the spell failed.

She tried to pull up some FP, but there was absolutely nothing left. She'd burnt herself out with that last attack, and there was no telling if it'd ever come back. She didn't even have enough life force to heal the damage; it seemed that she'd unconsciously held back all but a bit of her life force, just enough to keep her alive after the Seraphic Star went off, but not enough to use for anything else without risking killing herself for good.

Her skin felt slightly cold, and was beginning to swell up in places. Physical exposure to vacuum wouldn't kill her, but that was exactly the problem; Kars had spent many thousands of years drifting through space, alone, and it seemed that she would end up the same. At the very least, the Over-God-

Several Hermit Purple vines wrapped around her incomplete body and jerked her back. Through the vines, she felt the magical presence of the Over-God: diminished, certainly, but still very much alive. She turned to face him; he was only partly visible in the darkness of space, but he was back in his humanoid form, though he had little to no injuries from the explosion, and she could still make out the expression of rage and pain on his face.

He leaned in close to her, and tore off a chunk of flesh from her shoulder with his teeth. The face in his chest did the same with her arm, exposing bone in some places. She had no energy left to give, but perhaps he could metabolize it for enough energy to escape the same fate that awaited her. If he devoured her completely, it would probably put her out of her misery…

No. Even now, in this state, she had to fight back. The Over-God couldn't be allowed to win their battle, no matter what.

Peach reached out to the cells in the Over-God's stomach. He'd failed to put the same binding spells on himself as before, so she was free to act within. She formed the cells in his stomach into a sharp spike that pierced his stomach lining, causing him to double over in pain. She used the spike to draw some of the mana remaining in his body, but instead siphoned off just a bit of the divine power of the Triforces of Power and Courage within him. She used the energy to restore her body to full.

The Over-God sent pulses of energy through his vines and into Peach's body, but she defended herself with more of the Triforces' essence drawn from his body. She formed her hand and most of her lower arm into a spike made of hardened bone, and jammed it through one side of his head and out the other.

The face on the Over-God's chest shot out a goopy substance from its eyes, burning Peach on contact, but she broke off the spike in his head, formed her other arm into another spike, and jammed it through his chest. Both faces were frozen in screams of silent terror, but his body was still active; he flailed around and eventually closed one of his hands around her neck, channelling dark energy into her and nearly severing her head from her body, but she was intently focused on casting one last spell.

The final spell she'd learned from the Book of Minwu was the humble Sleep. She focused it through the spikes in the Over-God's head, chest and gut, and though he struggled for a short time, his body eventually went limp. The Sleep spell she'd learned was indefinite, but he could still be woken up by a dispel effect or by being hit by a strong impact; for now, he would sleep for a very long time.

The vines around Peach's body retracted back into his arm. She was close enough to kick off of his body, sending both of them flying into the void. It seemed inevitable that someone would come and retrieve the Over-God's body, or he would crash on some distant planet and reawaken, starting his reign of terror all over again; but she had no choice. The small amount of Triforce essence she'd drawn from his body, and the two spells she'd cast with it, had done severe damage to her body, and she was too exhausted to repair it. Anything more intensive probably would've destroyed her body completely.

But she'd intentionally saved just a bit of energy for her own use. Unlike the Over-God, it was doubtful that someone would come and rescue her, so her only hope was that she'd land on a planet somewhere in the distant future. But since that was unlikely to happen, she used the last bit of Triforce essence within her to cast Sleep on herself.

She had done the best she could to defeat the Apex and the Over-God, but even her best hadn't been enough. As she drifted off into her final rest, she wished to the stars that someday, someone would arise and finish what she started.

* * *

"I can no longer sense Peach."

Rosalina, Micaiah and Jotaro stood on the highest deck of the Comet Observatory, staring out into space. Jotaro in particular had been fully healed from the Over-God's attack, though he lacked any memories of fighting together with Peach.

"She's…. dead?" Micaiah asked.

"I can no longer sense her, but that does not mean she is dead. She may merely be sleeping or unconscious." Rosalina shook her head. "But even if I searched every square inch of space around there, I do not think I could find her. I found her near the Mushroom World because she still had a magic presence, but now…"

"What about the Over-God?" Jotaro asked.

"I would be able to sense if the Triforce pieces he held left his body and found another host. Since I did not feel that… it is likely that he is still alive, albeit unconscious or wounded."

"So she failed," Micaiah said, tears streaming down her eyes. "She blew herself up to kill the Over-God, but she died for nothing."

"That is not true. Even the pieces of the Triforce have their limits, and she likely inflicted damage to him that he will not be able to heal."

Micaiah choked out a sob and ran off to one of the Observatory's guest rooms. Jotaro stood in silence, looking out into space.

"Could you have killed him?" he asked.

"I do not think so," Rosalina said. "I let him take me to the Apex's Throne so that I could find out if he had a weakness of any sort, but I couldn't find anything of the sort. And he has Ganondorf's knowledge of how to break sealing spells, so whatever I used on him wouldn't have lasted long."

"Ganondorf? He said his name was Dio Brando or something."

"I believe the Over-God was the fusion of those two men." Rosalina looked up at the sky. "I knew Ganondorf once. We were staunch enemies, and he was the reason I eventually built the Observatory… but even he did not deserve to be used as a meat puppet like that."

"Indeed. In any case, Micaiah and Peach both promised me triple pay for this job."

A slight smile spread across Rosalina's lips. "And you have more than earned that, Jotaro Kujo."

Jotaro frowned. "You're not going to admonish me for caring more about money than Peach's fate?"

"Everyone mourns the loss of another in their own ways. And I have lost many friends over the years as well… it is important not to lose yourself in grief, but to look toward the future and build the world that they have wanted."

"That's quite cliché. You're almost as bad as she was," Jotaro muttered.

"An old saying, but a good one. Please speak with Polari about your payment."

Jotaro tipped his cap and walked off. Rosalina remained, looking at the stars above, until Micaiah returned a short time later.

"You said the Throne World was destroyed?" Micaiah asked, her voice hoarse.

"I believe so," Rosalina said. "The explosion was enough to at least severely damage it."

"Then I'll have to go to one of the secondary bases to re-establish my authority." Micaiah went silent. "I know… I know you said that the Apex wronged many of your friends. And I've done terrible things as well while in their service. But… but I want to make it right. I want to use the Apex's tech to help people without forcing them to accept it."

"I believe that would be for the best." Rosalina paused for a moment. "But it will be difficult for you. People will find it hard to believe that you've changed your mission, especially considering what you've done in the past."

"I know. But… but I owe it to everyone we've hurt over the years. I intend on making restitution to all of the people and worlds that the Apex hurt… and I'd like to start with you. You've helped me so much, especially considering what I've done…"

"The fact that you are willing to change is restitution enough for me," Rosalina said, smiling. "So long as you do not slip into your old ways, then I will consider us even. And, should you need any assistance, I would be glad to work with you within my Code."

"Y-you would?" A fresh stream of tears ran down Micaiah's stained cheeks.

"The Apex has potential to do great things. I would be honoured to allow them to reach that potential."

"…Thank you."

Micaiah pressed the gemstone on her scarf and folded away. Rosalina glided down to the lower levels of the Observatory, catching Polari handing Jotaro a huge sack of money before he teleported away as well.

"It's good to see you back, Mama," Polari said. "You weren't hurt too much, were you?"

"Not by the Apex," Rosalina said. "I am going to the speaking room. Please do not disturb me."

"But Mama-"

"I must face the consequences of my actions. If I do not return… it was a pleasure working with you, Polari."

The other Lumas gathered around and whimpered as Rosalina walked the green mile to the Observatory's middle deck. She pressed her hands against an innocuous patch of wall, opening a hidden door containing nothing but an infinite starry void. The door closed once she stepped inside, and she was whisked off to a place between space and time.

"I have broken the Code."

Rosalina appeared before three enormous clouds of indistinct energy. Gradually, they began to take shape; the left-most one took the shape of a tall, pale woman dressed in elaborate mechanical armour, surrounded by three blue discs; the right-most one took the shape of a younger girl, with untidy brown hair, an oddly uncanny face and wearing a simple blue sundress; and the middle took the form of Rosalina, though with different details, namely her bang covering the other side of her face and the yellow gem brooch set within a five-pointed silver star.

Rosalina – the mortal Rosalina standing before the three goddesses – shifted back into her true form. She was tall and slender, pale with brown hair, and with pointed ears and a longish nose. She wore a simple white dress with a purple sash overtop, along with small golden pauldrons and a golden circlet on her head; the white diamond brooch, and the tattoo of the Triforce of Wisdom around her right eye, remained the same.

"I have broken the Code," Rosalina repeated. "I have come to face Your judgement."

The mechanical woman spoke first. "Please tell us the details."

"What's there to detail? Let's just kill her and find another proxy, there's plenty still around," the girl said.

"No, I wish to hear the details as well," the real Rosalina said. "Please, Zelda, tell us why you decided to break the Code."

Zelda, the woman who had acted as the real Rosalina's proxy in the mortal universe, used her magic to project images of the events behind her. "While stopping at the Mushroom World, I found another Ultimate Life Form named Princess Peach, who was willing and desired to defeat the Apex. As befitting the Code, I decided to aid her for an equal exchange – in this case, a creature known as a Metroid that was stolen from me some time ago. She found out what she needed to know about the Apex during that mission, so we renegotiated our exchange so that I would provide combat training for her."

"That is an acceptable loophole," the mechanical woman said. "Is there more?"

"Yes." The image behind Zelda changed, showing a picture of the Over-God. "This man is the leader of the Apex. Officially, he is titled 'The Over-God', but I have for the purposes of recognition dubbed him 'Ganondio'. While aiding Princess Peach, Ganondio came to the Observatory and took me hostage to claim the Triforce of Wisdom from my body. Princess Peach and two cohorts came to fight Ganondio and rescue me, but they were outclassed."

"And you fought him yourself?" the real Rosalina asked.

"No. I… when I saw that the Princess was losing, I put Ganondio in celestial stasis and provided power to the Princess in the form of much of my biomass. I did not exchange it for anything."

"Did you believe that Ganondio was enough of a threat to warrant celestial stasis?" the mechanical woman asked.

"Who cares? It's just not done!" the girl said. "Plus she didn't exchange for power. That's two Code violations. Add those to the one you did with the Triforce, and that's three strikes."

"Enough, Achi," Rosalina said. "Zelda, what is the current status of Ganondio?"

"I released him from celestial stasis when I left. He and the Princess fought one another, but while I believe the Princess is dead or otherwise incapacitated, he is injured but alive."

"So you only used celestial status temporarily, then. And given that he wields two pieces of the Triforce and other powers besides, I believe that you were justified in its use," Rosalina said. They were aware of everything that'd happened, of course; but they were more interested in hearing Zelda's motivation for her actions. "However, your unlawful exchange of power is something I cannot ignore. Under the Code, you had the right to defend yourself in the Princess' place."

"She couldn't have defeated him," the girl, evidently named Achi, said. "I've seen him fight before, and he's quite powerful. I tried recruiting him as a proxy, but he was way too proud to accept orders."

"Indeed," Rosalina said. "What is your verdict, Meyneth?"

"I believe that both the use of celestial stasis and the unlawful exchange of power were both justified, given the circumstances. I vote for no strikes," the mechanical woman Meyneth said.

"And I vote for one strike," Rosalina said. "Achi?"

"Two strikes!" she chirped.

"Then let us split the difference and give Zelda one strike. Your service to me has been exemplary, but at the same time, the Code must be enforced."

"I understand," Zelda said. "And I will strive not to make another mistake in the future."

"Excellent," Rosalina said.

"Since it's almost time for your next report, we may as well do it now. Do you have any notable heroes to report?" Meyneth asked.

"I do. The Apex has a new leader, one who is in my debt. She wields divine magic and formidable psychic abilities," Zelda said, projecting an image of Micaiah on the screen. "The Apex also has considerable soldiers and resources, so they may be a useful ally. There is another one too, a man with physical prowess and a Stand that can universally stop time."

"And what of the Princess Peach?" Rosalina asked.

"She possesses Ultimate Life Form abilities and has great magical skill, but she is currently MIA. Should she resurface, I will attempt to recruit her."

"Good, we need more warriors! The Inverse is getting restless again," Achi said. "And you should consider yourself lucky that you're walking out of here alive."

"Do not listen to her," Meyneth said. "Your service is valuable to all of us, Zelda. And I assure you that we will not kill you, even if you break the Code again."

"Yes, I agree. But do be more careful in the future," Rosalina said. "You are dismissed."

Zelda bowed to the three women, who faded back into energy. She teleported back to the Comet Observatory, breathed a sigh of relief, and took on the shape of Rosalina once again. She considered it a uniform of sorts; since she was always working as Rosalina's proxy, she rarely took it off, but a return to her own skin was nice every so often. It would have been nicer if she hadn't been afraid of losing that skin, but all things considered, she got off pretty lightly.

But if what Achi said was true, and the Inverse were acting up again, she'd have to step up her efforts to find more heroes…


	24. Extra: Koojo - His Youth

"Happy birthday!"

A small group of people huddled around a kitchen table as a fresh-faced young boy blew out seven candles on his birthday cake. The kitchen itself was part of an expensive high-rise suite on the top of a skyscraper in the middle of New York, and was thus stocked to the brim with cutting-edge appliances and rare ingredients.

The boy blew out all seven of his candles, prompting a cheer from his family. He looked up at his mother, beaming, and said "S-sannku youu, eburiwaan!" in a thick Japanese accent. He was half-Japanese by way of his father, a famous musician; he seemed slightly out of place with the rest of his family, variously British, American and Italian, but they hadn't shown him anything but love since he and his mother had arrived in New York a few days ago.

"So what did you wish for, Jotaro?" his mother, Holly, asked in Japanese. His English was obviously not very good, but by contrast, her Japanese was quite good; she'd been living there for about ten years now.

"I wished for a dolphin!" Jotaro said proudly. "And a bigger aquarium for him! We can put my goldfish into it too!"

Holly smiled and patted Jotaro on the head. "Well, we'll definitely need a bigger aquarium if we get a dolphin." He'd always loved fish and other sea life, but he'd been quite obsessed with an animated adaptation of The Little Mermaid lately, no doubt influencing his wish.

She turned to the rest of her family: Joseph Joestar, her father, spry and fit as a man half his age; Suzie Joestar (nee Quattro), her mother, who in contrast wore her age with a sense of dignity and grace; and her grandmother, Elizabeth Hitchcock (nee Joestar, though her close friends called her 'Lisa Lisa'), who as a Ripple master looked no older than Holly herself.

"He wished for a dolphin!" Holly repeated in English.

Joseph got up and ruffled his grandson's hair with his left hand. "That's my boy!" he bellowed. "Dolphins might seem harmless, but they're vicious killers! They're masters of deception, and that suits a Joestar man just right!"

Holly frowned. "Papa, what are you talking about? Jotaro's a gentle boy! He doesn't have a bad bone in him!"

"He's just kidding, dear," Suzie said. "Dolphins are harmless, right Joseph?"

"I read about it once!" Joseph protested. "They act all cute and friendly to disarm unwary travelers, but they're actually using their songs to lure people to their deaths on sharp rocks!"

Everyone else present shook their heads, including Jotaro, who didn't understand the language but still realized Joseph's critical failure. Joseph shrugged and said "No, it's really true!", prompting another round of laughter.

The elder Joestars' faithful butler, Rosas, appeared with a cake server, forks and plates. "Shall I cut and serve the cake, master Joseph?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry!" Joseph said.

"Papa! Jotaro will get the first slice," Holly said. "Oh, and thank you, Rosas."

"Of course, lady Holly." Rosas cut the cake into six pieces, handed one to Jotaro, and said "Happy birthday to you, young Master Jotaro," in perfect Japanese.

"Thank you," Jotaro said, giving a quick bow to Rosas, then snatched a fork from his hand and dug into the cake.

"I didn't know you knew Japanese," Suzie remarked as he passed out the slices of cake.

"I have a great many talents, my lady," Rosas said.

"Hey, I know Japanese too!" Joseph said. "Uh… gomen nas-eye. Jotaro-chan!"

Holly giggled. "Oh Papa, you're such a silly man."

The celebrations continued throughout the day as the extended Joestar family indulged in pizza and sweets, played games and watched old Disney movies on fancy new "Betamax" cassettes that Joseph had bought overseas. But the day couldn't last forever, and the festivities ended once the sun set and night fell.

"He is a strong child," Lisa Lisa remarked as Holly and Joestar went to bed. Rosas had pulled out a bottle of vintage red wine, and her, Suzie and Joseph were drinking it in the kitchen.

"Yeah, he's a Joestar all right," Joseph said. "Course, I can't say much for his good-for-nothing father-"

Suzie gave Joseph a stern look, and he immediately shut up.

"I was glad it worked out for me to see my great-grandson," Lisa Lisa said, "but there was another reason you called me here, right, Joseph?"

"Yeah." The star-shaped birthmark on the back of his neck started to tingle, and Joseph reflexively rubbed it with his artificial left hand, lost in the fight against the Pillar Men forty years ago. "Suzie dear, it's getting late. Why don't you go to bed?"

"Nonsense!" Suzie said. "If this is about Ripple or the Pillar Men, then I want to hear as well!"

Joseph always forgot that she had worked for Lisa Lisa for several years, and was thus clued in about their battle against the undead. "Of course. Now then, Lisa Lisa-" he rarely called her 'mother' "-what can you tell me about this?"

He held out his right arm. Before his eyes, several thorned purple vines sprouted from his arms, each with a separate flash of light, and wrapped around the base of the kitchen table. He lifted his arm, and the table with it, despite clearly not touching it.

"Joseph!" Suzie shouted as their wine glasses fell over. Lisa Lisa pressed her hands on the table cloth, took a deep breath, and channeled Ripple through the tablecloth and into the glasses' bases, firmly affixing them to the table top.

Lisa Lisa got up as Joseph set the table back down, and she walked around, looking for the strings. "Is this just another one of your sleight-of-hand tricks?"

"So you don't see them either?" Joseph said. "Suzie and Rosas can't either, but I thought a Ripple master might see a little bit more…"

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" Lisa Lisa asked.

"Huh? Well, they're purple and sorta vine-like, and they come out of my arm whenever I want them to. I can wrap them around stuff and push and pull them without making contact, but using them is quite exhausting."

"Hmm…" Lisa Lisa pondered for a few moments. "Perhaps they're a psychic power of some sort?"

"What, like mind-reading or ESP or something?" Suzie said.

"No, those are charlatan's tricks," Lisa Lisa said. "But I've heard stories from reliable people about a psychic power that manifests as a living entity of sorts. The form it takes differs between individuals, and they often have bizarre powers."

"Reliable people, huh? Well, I guess if Ripple and vampires exist, I guess psychic powers aren't too far out of the realm of possibility," Joseph said. "But why would I gain something like that now?"

"The obvious question is, did you do anything that may have triggered those powers?" Lisa Lisa asked.

"Not that I can recall. As far as I know, they just appeared one day. I was trying to grab a book from the top shelf, and all of sudden, these vines popped out of my arm and grabbed them! It scared me so much that I panicked and broke the entire bookshelf!"

"It's possible that they always existed within you, and you just unknowingly called them up that day," Lisa Lisa said. "But the fact that your birthmark is tingling suggests to me that there's an outside source responsible."

"Huh? How did you know that?" Joseph asked.

"Holly has a birthmark like that," Suzie said, "but she hasn't complained about any pain or anything."

"Holly doesn't seem the type to bother anyone for just a bit of pain on her neck," Lisa Lisa said. "More importantly, your father, Jorge, and his father, Jonathan, both had a birthmark like that as well. If that part of your body is tingling, and nothing else, then it suggests that something important to the Joestar bloodline has occurred, or perhaps will occur."

"But how did you know my birthmark hurt?" Joseph asked.

"You were rubbing it," Lisa Lisa said plainly. "In any case… Joseph, what do you know about your grandfather?"

"Granny spoke very highly of him. He was kind, compassionate, determined and always very driven." Joseph paused. "She also told me that he gave his life to save her from a vampire."

"That's correct. That vampire's name was Dio Brando," Lisa Lisa said, "and he was supposedly killed on that ship with Jonathan. But…"

"He couldn't still be alive!?" Suzie said.

"Vampires are resilient creatures. As I heard it, Dio was reduced to only his head when he killed Jonathan. He may have been able to survive by taking Jonathan's body-"

Suzie gagged, then ran for the bathroom.

"That's revolting, but I suppose we can't expect a vampire to give the dead their due," Joseph said. "And if he developed this psychic power in Jonathan's body, it may be propagating down the bloodline?"

"That is one theory," Lisa Lisa said. "In any case, I would suggest doing more research on psychic powers and the like."

"I've already asked the Speedwagon Foundation to look into it for me." Joseph rubbed his temples and groaned. "I'm too old to be doing this stuff again. I figured we ended it all when we took out the Pillar Men…"

"'Evil is a constant and evolving threat. We must be ever vigilant against those who would destroy humanity.'" Lisa Lisa looked out through the kitchen window. "Straizo used to tell me that all the time. Things have changed since then..."

"We've both gotten old," Joseph said. "We're not as strong or tough as we used to be."

"Indeed. But I've kept in touch with a number of Ripple users throughout the world. I will contact them and let them know-"

Lisa Lisa was cut off by a loud crack and glass shattering. Blood sprayed from the back of her head, and she slumped over and fell on the floor. There was a bullet hole right between her eyes.

Joseph cried out in shock, but his survival instinct made him duck underneath the table just before the second shot came through the broken kitchen window.

"Mother…" Joseph reached out to Lisa Lisa's dead body, tears blurring his vision, and closed her eyelids. Her face was frozen in shock from her unexpected cause of death; of all the things that might want to kill her, who would've expected a sniper?

Joseph crawled out from underneath the table, making sure to stay out of sight of the window, and ran towards the bathroom. Another shot rang out as he opened the bathroom door; Suzie was ducking beside the toilet and crying her eyes out, but she was otherwise okay.

She barely choked out "Joseph!" before jumping up and throwing herself into his arms. "I-I heard gunshots-"

"We're not safe here," Joseph said. His old fighting instincts, having lain dormant for over 40 years, were quickly resurfacing; though he was freaking out inside, he was able to recompose himself enough to start making escape plans. "We need to get Holly and Jotaro and get out of here."

Suzie nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. They left the bathroom together, and headed towards the bedrooms on the other side of their suite. Joseph instructed her to keep close to the walls, so that they would be less visible to the unseen sniper outside. Another shot rang out, hitting the refrigerator and scattering bits of metal and paint everywhere; Suzie screamed and fell to her knees, but Joseph helped her back up and they made it to the guest bedrooms without incident.

"Papa, what's going on?" Holly asked as she slipped a robe over her nightgown. "Were those gunshots?"

"Yeah," Joseph said. "Grab Jotaro and let's get out of here."

Holly's eyes went wide, but to her credit, she kept her composure. She picked up the sleeping Jotaro, cradling him close to her chest like a newborn, and joined her parents as they carefully made their way to the suite's exit.

Jotato stirred. "Mama, what's happening?" he asked, still groggy.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Everything will be all right."

The front door was locked, and Joseph didn't have the key, so he smashed the knob off with his artificial hand and ripped it open. They ran into the hallways of their just as a fifth shot hit the coatrack near the door.

"Master!" Rosas ran toward them, wearing a stained old nightshirt and holding a modern-looking pistol in his hands. "I heard the shots! Is everyone okay?"

"We need to get out of here," Joseph said. "But I have a hunch that these aren't just normal hired guns, so we'll need somewhere we can wait until dawn."

"Are they…vampires?" Holly asked. "Er, sorry, but I overheard you and Grandma talking…"

"Yeah, they might be," Joseph said. "Or they're regular people hired by vampires. Either way, they're smart enough to pick off Ripple users from a distance."

"Let's go to the police station!" Suzie said. "They'll be able to help us, right?"

"If these truly are vampires, then regular guns will be ineffective," Rosas said, giving a quick mournful look at his own gun. "Perhaps we should head to the basement? There's only one way in and out, and no windows."

"That works," Joseph said. The group headed over to the elevator and mashed the down button. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, revealing a man with an assault rifle.

Everyone ducked out of the way as the man opened fire, scattering large bits of drywall everywhere as his rifle chewed up the wall behind. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Joseph fell through the air, letting him examine the gunman's features: he was pale and discoloured, his eyes were glowing red, and he had two prominent canine teeth. His high-pitched, sadistic laugh was drowned out by the rifle's roar, but his clip ran out of ammo just in time for Joseph to hit the ground.

He fell right on his shoulder, and felt something shift uncomfortably as he rolled with the impact. Summoning up another skill he hadn't used in a long time, he took a deep breath, filling his body with the sun-like energy of the Ripple. The energy flowing through his body enhanced his already considerable energy rush; he redirected a bit of it into his shoulder, dulling the pain completely.

The vampire cursed in an unknown tongue and threw his gun to the side. His eyes turned to Holly, and he licked his lips as he walked over toward her, reaching out with one of his hands.

Joseph bellowed in inarticulate rage. Vines sprouted from his right hand and wrapped around the vampire's neck and torso, binding his arms; he struggled against the invisible force restraining him, but even his enhanced strength couldn't break them. Thinking quickly, Joseph channeled some of his Ripple through his vines and into the vampire's body.

The vampire shrieked as the vines cut right through his body, splitting him into 3 parts, severing his arms below the elbow and decapitating him. Joseph got up and looked at the vampire's head; its eyes were wide and pleading, and it spoke softly in the same unknown language. He knew what it was saying, but he had no mercy at the moment.

Joseph channeled Ripple into his foot and stomped on the vampire's head, splattering its brains on the carpet.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, but he quickly realized that not all was well; Suzie was kneeling beside Rosas, weeping loudly. A scarlet stain spread out from a hole in his nightshirt, right above his heart. He was sweating profusely and gasping for air.

Rosas tried to speak, but no words escaped his lips. Instead, he raised his shaking hand and pointed to the open elevator door, and his meaning was clear. Joseph grabbed Rosas' gun and stuck it in the back of his pants, and he, Suzie, Holly and Jotaro piled into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"We- we need to call an ambulance," Suzie choked out. "F-for Rosas, once we get downstairs."

Joseph shook his head, not wanting to say that he wouldn't hang on that long. There might be other casualties, but with vampires about, calling in more help would only add more to their ranks. Still, he'd been able to take out a vampire with his Ripple despite his age and lack of practice, so maybe he'd be able to deal with them quickly enough to get help.

They reached the ground floor, and waiting for them was two more vampires also equipped with assault rifles. Joseph reacted immediately by lashing out with his Ripple-enhanced vines, decapitating them in a single motion, but not fast enough to stop them from firing. Joseph felt something pierce his kidney, and he heard Holly cry out and fall to the ground, but he destroyed the vampires' heads first.

Once that was done, he looked back to see Holly clutching her leg and whimpering in pain; she'd been hit right above the knee. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her leg, channeling Ripple into her and stopping the bleeding.

"P-papa…" Holly muttered.

The bleeding would start again if she tried to walk, so Joseph reached around his daughter and picked her up, cradling her close to his chest just as she had to her own son. Jotaro stood to the side of the elevator, weeping silently but trying his best to remain composed and resolute.

"Jotaro," Joseph said, looking his grandson right in the eye. "I want you to stay next to me no matter what, okay?"

Jotaro nodded grimly, understanding his grandfather perfectly despite the language barrier.

"Oh, Joseph…" Suzie said.

"We're almost there. We'll be safe once we make it to the basement," Joseph said. Unfortunately, the elevator didn't go down that far, so they headed toward a door and down a stairwell into the basement.

Once in the basement, Suzie flipped on the lights, revealing a large room with all sorts of junk scattered around haphazardly. Fortunately, there was a wheelchair right near the door, so Joseph set Holly down in it.

"Papa, you're hurt!" Holly said, looking at the wound in his abdomen. She reached for her robe and tore a strip off of it, but Joseph pushed her hand away.

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch," he said. "Put that cloth on your leg in case it starts bleeding again,"

"But-"

"Holly!" Joseph said, in the tone of a father scolding his child. "I'll be fine! Worry about yourself and your son!"

"Joseph! That is no way to speak to your daughter!" Suzie said.

Joseph almost yelled back at her, but he took a moment to recompose himself. "I'm sorry, Holly."

"No, Papa, it's okay." Holly pressed the strip of cloth to the bullet wound on her leg, while holding Jotaro close to her chest with her other arm.

Joseph took the gun from his pants and handed it to Suzie. "If any vampires show up, aim for their brains, okay?"

Suzie's hands shook as she took the gun. "Joseph…"

"I'm going to use the phone at the front desk to call 911. I'll be right back, okay?" He kissed Suzie on the cheek, wiped the tears from her eyes, and headed back upstairs.

The wound on his side oozed out blood and pus as he walked up the stairwell. He had to continually apply Ripple to it to keep the wound closed, as it kept opening up as he went up each stair. Damn it, he was too old for this… but at the same time, he couldn't let anyone else die tonight. And he had no plans on dying, either.

In the lobby, he saw three more vampires with assault rifles standing near the entrance. They didn't notice him right away, but he was too far away to hit them with his vines, and they'd hear him if he tried to sneak up. So he did what he did best and smashed the nearby vending machine with his artificial hand, sending dozens of cans of cola rolling across the floor.

Of course, the vampires heard that, and they turned around and immediately opened fire. Joseph grabbed a handful of cans and rolled behind the administrative desk, taking cover behind it; it was made of thick wood, and (with a Ripple power-up) strong enough to stop even the high-caliber bullets from their rifles.

Joseph grabbed one of the cola cans, charged it up with Ripple, and used his vines to lob it in the general direction of the vampires. The impromptu grenade exploded in midair, spraying the vampires with Ripple-charged cola and eliciting bloodcurdling shrieks of pain. Joseph did the same to the other three cans, and threw them all at once; the vampires continued screaming, but not for long as their bodies turned to ash.

"Very good, Joseph Joestar."

Joseph got up from behind the desk to see what appeared to be a person covered entirely in dark gray stone. Still, based on his profile, he was extremely muscular and wearing little more than a g-string. The only part of his body uncovered was his hair of indeterminate colour, appearing to be orange, yellow or red, depending on where the light hit it.

The voice of the man seemed familiar to him, though he couldn't for the life of him place it. "You're working for Dio, aren't you?" Joseph asked.

"Dio?" the man said thoughtfully. "Dio, Dio. No, I know no Dio. But I did meet a vampire a few years ago who had a grudge against the Joestars as well… he provided me with the energy I needed to come here."

And then it hit Joseph just who this man was.

"I suffered quite a defeat to you, Joseph Joestar," the man said. He walked towards Joseph, his stone armour bending seamlessly along with the rest of his body. "Even after I escaped my prison, I trained for many years to overcome your Ripple powers. I was never as skilled with my abilities as Lord Kars or the rest, but my solution is quite ingenious, don't you think?"

"Kars is dead," Joseph said. "Esidisi and Wamuu too. I killed them all."

"And you tried to kill me too," Santana, the last of the Pillar Men, said. "But you made the mistake of leaving me in the hands of mortals who thought me useless under their simulated sunlight. All I had to do was wait for a power failure to make my escape… and though I was diminished, the cattle of the Speedwagon Foundation restored my body just fine."

"Impossible! That UV chamber had a separate power source!" Joseph said.

"Then perhaps one of them let me out? Cattle have always been obsessed with the secret of immortality… perhaps one of them released me to learn my secrets, thinking foolishly that he could control me. I care little for the reason behind it."

Joseph slammed his hand on the desk. "Damn it! I should've finished you off myself!"

"But you did not, and now you will pay the price." Santana's rocky visage twisted into a grin. "But I am not unfair. Go ahead, Joseph Joestar. Try your weak little Ripple against me."

Joseph slowly walked over to Santana, generating more Ripple on the way. Once he stood in front of the rocky Pillar Man, he reached back with his left arm in an exaggerated punch motion… then fired his vines at a nearby cola can, retracted the vines, charged the can with Ripple, and smashed it against Santana's chest.

Santana regarded the whole incident with a cool indifference, but didn't even flinch when the Ripple-charged cola struck his stone armour. Joseph wasn't done yet, as he fired his vines right at the huge wet spot on Santana's chest, hoping to pierce his armour… but two flat, ghostly hands appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Joseph's vines. Two more hands grabbed Joseph around the midsection and threw him upwards, but he retracted his vines and re-fired them at a ceiling fan, grabbing onto it and pulling himself away.

"So you have a Stand too?" Santana remarked, still rather nonplussed about everything. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I've spent ten thousand years on this earth, and even I only learned of the power of the Stand a few years ago… but of course, my hated enemy also conveniently acquired one as well."

"What the hell is a Stand?" Joseph asked.

"Those vines of yours are a psychic projection of your consciousness and soul," Santana said. "As is this."

A semitransparent object appeared before Santana. It was spherical and somewhat resembled the moon with inverted colours, but it had an outline of a wolf-like face on its front, with an extra vertical eye between and above its other two eyes, and four arm-like appendages made of some type of paper or cloth trailed behind.

"I've been told this Stand is called Bark at the Moon," Santana said. "It has the ability to drive others mad with its gaze. Shall we see how long you can hold out?"

Joseph closed his eyes and turned his head away from Santana's Stand, but even still, he could feel the intensity of its eyes upon him. Anger and fear bubbled up within him, and he wanted nothing more than to kill Santana, to rip him limb from limb, to feast on his corpse…

He dismissed his vines and dropped to the ground, landing in a primal stance on all fours, foaming at the mouth. He growled in an inhuman way and launched himself at Santana, scratching uselessly at his stone armour until his fingers bled.

"Even the mighty Joseph Joestar crumbles before my Stand," Santana said, laughing. "Now go, my pet, and exterminate your family. If you do, I may just let you live."

Joseph grunted and skittered toward the stairwell door. He climbed down the stairs head-first, jumped the last few steps and landed on the basement floor, and immediately stood up and wiped the spit from the corners of his mouth.

It was fairly easy to put up a show to convince Santana, though he'd paid the price; his right hand was bleeding and pretty much useless, though his left was still fine. He'd need to figure something out to get around that armour…

He searched around the basement, but he found no trace of Suzie, Holly or Jotaro. He called out to them, but they didn't answer; and the basement was quite small, and without obvious hiding places. He kept searching, until finally, he found the secret: an open manhole cover leading into the sewers below.

Joseph turned around to see Santana, pointing a gun right at his forehead.

"You didn't think I'd really be fooled by that, did you?" Santana said wryly. He pulled the trigger, and before he could react, Joseph was dead.

Down in the sewers, Jotaro was pushing Holly's wheelchair, with Suzie trailing behind, and they were all moving as fast as they could away from the entrance. They'd simply dropped the wheelchair down the manhole, and both Jotaro and Suzie had helped Holly climb down the ladder, though she'd reopened the wound in her leg while doing so.

Oddly enough, though these particular sewers still smelt quite funky, there were no traces of waste within them. They also looked rather strange, almost as if someone had created a perfectly cylindrical tunnel in the bedrock by magic or something, as the walls and floor were perfectly smooth.

The gunshot echoed throughout the tunnels, and Suzie dropped to her knees.

"Oh, my Joseph…" she whimpered. "My Joseph, I know in my heart that he's dead…"

"Mama, we need to keep moving!" Holly said. But she felt the same thing; the birthmark on her neck told her, too, that her father had just passed. Still, they needed to keep going on.

"No…" Suzie said. "I'll just wait here and hold the vampires off… you and Jotaro need to save yourselves."

"Mama!" Holly shouted. "If you just lie there in defeat, then Papa's sacrifice will have been for nothing! He _died_ to save us!"

Suzie looked at Holly, shocked, but realized what she'd said was true. She walked toward her daughter and grandson, but a hand reached out of the darkness and snatched her away. Gunshots rang out in the darkness, followed by a short, high scream, then... nothing.

Jotaro and Holly kept moving, but the hand, attached to an enormous stone figure, jumped in front of them.

"Keep running, Jotaro, no matter what," Holly said under her breath.

"But Mama-"

"You need to stay alive at all costs, okay? I'll be fine." She gave her son one last smile. "Be strong, Jotaro."

Jotaro's lip trembled, but he obeyed his mother's order and kept running. The stone man reached down to grab him, but Holly propelled herself from the wheelchair and knocked the man over. Her adrenaline-fueled strength let her crack the man's stone armour with her fist, and even though she broke every bone in her hand and arm, she did it again with her other arm, shattering the armour and impaling sharp chunks of stone in the man's face.

"You're strong for a mortal," Santana said. The armour around his chest peeled away, revealing his bare scales, brownish and almost rubbery. Tendrils of flesh shot out and grabbed Holly's legs, digesting her and completely pulling her into his body in the span of a few seconds.

Jotaro kept running. But as he ran, he noticed that the tunnel was changing; the smooth bedrock had gained a tile pattern, and large pipes, each with a different colour or pattern, stuck out of the walls at odd angles. As he heard the heavy steps of Santana behind him, he decided to take a chance and dived into one of the pipes, a red one with white stripes along the lip. The pipe retracted back into the ground before Santana could enter it.

"Uhh…"

Jotaro woke up some time later. He was lying on a dirt path of some kind, but he had no idea how long he was out – or for that matter, where he was. He looked up to see a massive tiered city before him, with a giant white tower rising high into the sky. For that matter, the sky was various shades of gold, with randomly-moving groups of diamond patterns taking the place of clouds.

A blue square was floating in front of him. He reached out to grab it, but it retracted when he reached for it, and returned when he pulled away. His arm fell to his side, and the square followed – and when he looked down, he realized he had no actual arm.

Sure enough, his body was now made entirely of disconnected blue squares, with no arms, legs or neck to connect them. He looked in a puddle of water; staring back at him was a blue face, lacking a snout or nose, and most importantly lacking scales.

"Oh ho? What is a young one doing on the outskirts?"

Another blocky man in a blue cloak, his face hidden in shadow save for his glowing yellow eyes, and with an extremely long white beard, came walking toward him. Jotaro panicked and ran away, but the path abruptly ended and dropped off into the infinite golden void below.

"Please, I mean you no harm," the cloaked figure said. "Are you a lost dimensional traveler?"

Rather than respond, Jotaro simply fell to his knees and started bawling. Though still young, the impact of what had happened on his birthday was crystal-clear to him. He'd lost his family, his home, and now, he himself was lost in a faraway world in an unfamiliar form.

The figure approached him and draped a part of his cloak over the boy's body. "It's okay, son, you're safe here. My name is Merlon. Come now, we'll get you some of Saffron's food…"

The cloaked figure named Merlon led the distraught young Jotaro into the city of Flipside, which would be his home for most of his youth. Once he came of age, he went out into the wider universe, swearing vengeance against the vampires who took his family and home away…


End file.
